Losing The Best
by babyk1nz
Summary: When tragedy enters Gabriella's life she struggles to keep any kind of control. When it gets the best of her, will anyone be able to save her? She learns that sometimes losing the best means losing so much more. TXG
1. Chapter 1

**So here is a new story I've been kind of working on. If you've read any of my other stories, this one is really different. It has a lot more mature stuff in it. In this one there will be suicide, teen drinking, some depression, and rape included in various points in the story. So that makes it sound like a crazy story, and none of these things will be in detail or anything (I don't think I'm all that good at the details) but just so you know.  
I know that for previous stories I posted them pretty quickly, but those were stories that had already been written, whereas this story I'm still working on. I only have the first five chapters done so far. This one will be going a lot slower (if I continue it) than the others just as a heads up.  
Hope you guys all enjoy it! :) -- Kay**

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow to see what's going on for the rest of spring break. Love you babe!" Gabriella said to her boyfriend as she got in her car. She waved and backed out of the driveway and began the journey back to her house. Her phone began to ring and she looked at it sitting on the passenger seat. She slowed down for a red light and picked it up noticing that it wasn't Troy as she had expected. Her best friend Taylor's name was flashing on the caller I.D. screen.

"Hey girl, what's going on?" she asked.

"Gabs? I'm sorry… I don't want to do this anymore. I'm so sorry," Taylor replied.

"Tay what are you talking about? You didn't even do anything,"

"Gabi, I want to take it back. I want to fix things. I just…,"

"What the hell are you talking about; you're freaking me out Taylor. Where are you?" Gabriella questioned.

"I'm at home. Please hurry. I'm just so sorry"

Gabriella could tell Taylor was crying by the way her voice was cracking. She turned her car in the direction of Taylor's house and hung up her phone. She pulled in Taylor's driveway and slammed the car door as she ran to the front door. She didn't even bother to knock before running in the house and screaming her name.

"Taylor!"

She heard a noise coming from the bathroom upstairs and stomped up the stairs and ran to the bathroom where she finally found her friend. She looked down to see her friend lying on the bathroom floor. Everything finally started to make sense. The phone call, Taylor apologizing to her over and over again, wanting her to hurry. She kneeled down next to her friend trying to hold back the tears that were quickly forming behind her eyes.

"Tay… I'm here now. It's okay, you're going to be okay. Just look at me, you don't need to say anything just watch me and don't close your eyes." She managed to get out. She dug inside her purse looking for her cell phone to call an ambulance. She pushed the numbers 9-1-1 out on her phone as quickly as she could with her shaking hands.

"9-1-1 emergency, how can I help you?" the surprisingly cheery voice answered.

"I need an ambulance now, my best friend just tried to kill herself. Please hurry,"

"What's the address?"

"756 Pinedale Ave. I don't know how much longer she can hold on," Gabi said hysterically.

"An ambulance is on its way sweetie, just stay on the phone with me until they get there. Try to keep her awake and focused if you can."

"Taylor, look at me sweetie. You're going to be okay now, they're coming. We'll all make sure you're gonna be okay too. Me and Chad and Troy and everyone else we'll sort this all out together," she told her friend, all the while trying to convince herself.

She heard sirens in the background and the door bang open one floor below her.

"Up here!" she screamed. "They're here now," Gabi said to the operator still on the line.

"Okay, they'll do the rest then, Bye," the operator hung up.

Before Gabriella had time to think about what was happening to Taylor one of the Paramedics ushered her out of the room. She was sitting on the steps by herself for what felt like an eternity before they finally brought her out of the bathroom on a stretcher to take her to the hospital. The paramedics told Gabriella they would not have room for her in the ambulance but that she could follow behind them in her car and meet them at the hospital.

Gabriella walked to her car and began the long drive to the hospital. On her way she wondered what she would do if her best friend didn't make it. She pushed the thought away quickly trying to be positive. She finally arrived at the hospital and parked in the small emergency entrance parking lot. Rushing into the hospital she found one of the paramedics helping Taylor. She spotted one standing near the registration desk and made her way over to him.

"Do you know if she's okay?" she demanded.

"They're trying to stabilize her now, but I can't make any promises."

"So she could really… she might not pull through?" tears were beginning to form in her eyes once again as she asked the question.

"It's a possibility, yes," he said quietly.

Gabriella's shoulders began to shake with her sobs. She nodded to the paramedic to thank him as he told her to sit down while she waited to hear more. He promised her that he would let her know if any changes came about with Taylor's condition. For the rest of the evening Gabriella sat alone in the emergency waiting room lost in her own thoughts. Finally she recognized the young man she had talked to earlier coming her way. He didn't say anything as he came and took a seat next to her. Gabriella knew in her heart what that meant but was unable to accept it.

"We did everything we could…," he started.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything more," she replied.

"I'm so sorry," he said covering her hand with his own. "I really thought she was going to make it at one point."

"Please, I don't want to hear anymore," she sobbed.

"Okay, I'll let you be then. I'm sorry," he whispered as he walked down the corridor.

Gabriella sat in the hard chair as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. She rested her head on her knees and her salty tears began to leave small wet patches on her jeans. After a few moments of quietly crying to herself she picked herself up and walked outside with a blank look on her tear stained face. She didn't even notice all the pitying glances she had thrown her way as she made her way to her car. Once she sat down in the front seat she took a moment to steady herself. After she felt as ready as she would ever be, she pulled out of the hospital and began the drive back to her neighborhood. Once she came upon the familiar streets, she made a split second decision in her mind that just about the last thing she wanted was to be alone right now.

She pulled up to his house and parked her car next to the curb. Slowly, she opened her car door and brushed away a few stray tears as she made her way up to his front door. Just after ringing the doorbell, she heard his footsteps as he bounded his way down the steps to greet her. She kept her head down as she heard the front door creak open.

"Hey Brie! I wasn't expecting to see you so soon again," he said.

Upon hearing his cheery voice, she once again broke down in tears finally letting them all fall out. Her knees buckled and just as she imagined falling to the stone porch she felt two strong arms catch her.

"Brie! What happened, what's wrong?!"

"Oh Troy," she sobbed unable to get anything else out.

Without another word, Troy picked Gabriella up bridal style and carried her small body into his house, kicking his door closed as he went. He carried her all the way up to his room before finally gently resting her on his bed. She was shaking from her sobs as Troy walked over and began rubbing her back.

"Baby, do you want to talk about it?" he questioned quietly.

Gabriella shook her head. After a few more minutes of crying while Troy rubbed her back she finally started talking. "She's gone Troy, she's not coming back."

"Who's gone sweetie?"

"Taylor," Gabriella whispered almost inaudibly.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Troy asked, clearly confused.

"She's gone. Dead. My best friend is dead," she said crying as she finally admitted it out loud.

Troy's eyes widened upon hearing this. "H-How?" he wondered aloud.

"She killed herself. I can't believe it. I never even saw it coming and she was my best friend!"

"Brie, don't even think about blaming yourself. Trust me when I say that if she actually did something like that, then it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. She was sick, I'm just sorry that we didn't know," he said.

"But she was my best friend. I should have known! I should have helped her! I should have saved her!"

"Gabs, don't do this. You know just as well as I do, it's no where near your fault," Troy attempted again.

"I have to go Troy," she said sitting up while wiping away her tears. "I have to go tell Chad…"

"Yeah. Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

She nodded her head in response before being engulfed in Troy muscular arms. She melted into the hug for a few seconds before pulling back, afraid to get Troy's shirt wet from tears. She looked up to his crystal blue eyes to see that they were wet with his own tears that he was trying to hold back.

"Come on, I want to get this over with," she said grabbing his hand.

The two made their way out to the car and silently headed over to Chad's house to deliver the news to him. They walked from the car to his porch slowly, trying to put off telling him. Finally Gabriella forced herself to push the doorbell and wait for an answer. The door finally opened to reveal Chad's dad.

"Troy, Gabriella, how are you doing?" he asked the two.

"We've been better. Would Chad be home?" Troy answered.

"Yeah, just a second," he turned around to face the stairs as he called, "Chad! Troy and Gabriella are here!" he faced them again and smiled before Chad came to greet them.

"Hey guys, what's going on? Wanna go out back and play some hoops?" demanded Chad, completely unaware of Gabriella's tears.

"Um Chad, yeah let's head out back, but we need to talk," Troy responded.

"Okay…"

The three close friends began walking around the yard to head to the back to have some privacy. When they sat down Chad faced them and finally noticed Gabriella's tears-stained cheeks.

"Gabi, have you been crying? What's wrong?" Chad asked.

At this Gabriella began crying once again this time hiding her face in Troy's shoulder for a few minutes.

"Chad…" Troy began.

"No Troy, I should tell him," Gabriella stated.

"Are you sure Brie?"

"Yes," turning to Chad Gabriella began, "Chad there was an accident tonight. Taylor called me and started rambling so I headed to her house. But I was too late. I couldn't save her. I'm so sorry Chad," she managed to get out before letting her sobs overcome and once again hid in Troy's arms.

"What do you mean you couldn't save her? What happened to her?" Chad whispered now completely serious.

"I'm sorry Chad, Taylor passed away tonight," Troy whispered with his head hung low.

Chad was silent as his eyes grew wide with this reality. He stared into space for a few minutes before letting his tears fall down his face along with Gabriella's. He stood up and walked to the railing of his back porch, letting his arms drape over the railing. Gabriella got up and walked over to where he was, pulling him to her in a hug.

"I'm so sorry Chad."

Chad nodded in response, which in a strange way made Gabriella feel somewhat better. Somehow she knew that it was his way of letting her know that he didn't blame her.

The three went back inside where they headed down to the basement. They said very little to each other, but felt the need to be with each other. No one wanted to be left alone to deal with this. Troy and Gabriella ended up calling home to tell their parents that they were spending the night at Chad's. Finally the two guys fell asleep on the couches, leaving Gabriella awake with her thoughts. She slipped out from under Troy's arm and quietly stepped out of the back door.

She was standing on her own looking at the stars in the sky lost in her own world. She let her mind wander back to the first few days of moving to Albuquerque where she first met Taylor. She was always amazed at how they became best friends so quickly. Now she would never again be able to walk through the door of East high along side her best friend. She would never meet up with her at lunch, never be scolded by Taylor for showing up to Decathlon practice five minutes late (which Taylor always knew she had been with Troy), never hear the familiar exasperated sighs at the end of the day coming from the locker next to her. She faintly heard the sliding door open and close behind her, but didn't turn to find out whom it was. He came and stood next her and draped one arm over her shoulders as they stood silently together.

"What happened?" he finally broke the silence.

"I don't know Chad, I mean I never ever saw this coming. If only I could have…"

"No, I mean how did it happen?" Chad interrupted her.

There was a pause before Gabriella spoke again.

"Are you sure you want to find out?" she spoke quietly.

"Gabs, I need to know."

"Okay… she killed herself. I'm so sorry Chad," she said as tears sprang up in her eyes once again.

Chad turned her around and faced her with his own tears in his eyes. He pulled her close to him as they both stood on his back porch crying for their lost friend in each other's arms. "I can't believe this is actually happening to us. It doesn't seem real."

"I know. I haven't really let it sink in yet. I don't really want to," Gabriella replied.

After a few minutes they both decided to head back inside to try to get some more sleep. They descended the stairs to the basement once again, where Troy was still sleeping soundly. Within moments they both allowed sleep to overtake them letting them go of the day they had just survived.

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**Okay, so that's the first one. Let me know if you think that I should keep going with it. I'm going to write it regardless, but if I continue to post it on fanfic is a totally different question. Let me know if I should keep going with it!**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from _High School Musical. _

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hey... if anyone is reading this. So clearly I didn't get any feedback on the first chapter. I'll be honest, I was disappointed. It's not like I expect people to comment all the time - I know better than that - but I was hoping to get some kind of advice. Even if it was telling me that my story was crap and that I should just quit while I'm ahead, at least that's something. I've decided that I'll post this next chapter and if there continues to be no comments I'll probably just delete the story. Although to be honest it would be nice to hear that someone likes what they've read so far.  
Anyways here's the next chapter, I really hope you guys like it! --Kay**

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The following morning Troy woke up first since he had gotten the most sleep during the night. Being entirely used to Chad's house, Troy marched up the stairs and went straight to his kitchen. Not knowing how to cook much, he pulled out a box of pop tarts, and some toaster strudels and threw them into the toaster before going to the fridge to find some juice. He poured three glasses, drank one, and then poured another. He crept downstairs once again to see if Chad or Gabriella had woken up, to find that neither of them had. He climbed up the stairs again and retrieved the pop tarts and toaster strudels just before they began to burn. He looked at the clock to find that it was already 11:07 am. Thinking it was about time that the other two get up; he went back downstairs again to wake them up. He walked over to Chad and gently pushed him awake and told him "Pop tarts and toaster strudels are already done and waiting upstairs."

He walked over to where Gabriella was laying down, and gently brushed away her hair from her face. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and told her to wake up. He saw her small body turn over onto her back as her eyes fluttered open.

"Troy?"

"Yeah Brie. It's time to get up," he responded.

"I don't want to."

"Come on baby, I made breakfast."

From across the room Troy heard Chad getting up off the couch. Troy said hello to him and repeated what was made upstairs as Chad nodded his head and made his way upstairs to the food.

"I don't want to eat Troy. I just want to lie here," she said in a monotone voice.

"Brie, please get up. You have to eat something," he tried again.

"Troy, just let me be."

Reluctantly Troy stood up again and nodded his head. He wasn't sure what to do about his grieving girlfriend.

He went back upstairs to go talk to Chad to see how he was feeling.

"Thanks for making food Troy. Where's Gabs?" he wondered.

"She won't eat. She says she's not hungry and all she wants to do is lie there. I don't know what to do," Troy said.

"She's hurting. Tay was her best friend. As much as I'm hurting and I know that you're hurting it's not the same. Plus neither of us could ever lose our appetite. I guess we'll just have to try to get her mind off of things, if that's even possible."

"Yeah, I guess," Troy responded picking up a pop tart and taking a bite out of it.

Once the two boys were done eating dinner and cleaning up relatively well, they headed back downstairs. Troy walked over to where Gabriella was laying down, now finding her sprawled out on the big couch that Chad was once sleeping on.

"Gabi?" he whispered. "Are you asleep?"

No response.

"I guess she's gone back to sleep. Do you think we should wake her up?" Troy asked turning back to Chad.

"No, just let her sleep it off some more."

The boys headed up to Chad's room where they began to play Chad's Xbox. While they were in the middle of a race they both turned to look at each other.

"I can't do this," Troy stated.

"Me neither. I want to take my mind off it so badly, but it seems like no matter what I do, I can't get her out of my mind. I should have known, I should have seen something," Chad said as his eyes began to get watery.

Troy opened his mouth to speak but Chad beat him to it once again. "I mean something that bad doesn't happen overnight. There must have been signs, and I never even noticed. I wish I could have done something, anything."

"Me too," came a quiet voice from Chad's doorway. There standing there was a red-eyed Gabriella with messy hair and more tears streaming down her face.

Troy stood up from his spot on the bed and walked over to where Gabriella was and immediately pulled her in close to him, engulfing her in a hug.

"We all wish that we could have seen something, or done something more guys. But when it comes down to it, no matter how much we wish we could have changed something or go back in the past and bring her back, it won't work," Troy's voice raised at the end as he turned to notice that all three of them now had tears falling down their face.

They all sat on Chad's bed for a few minutes while they tried to compose themselves again. After a few moments, Gabriella finally spoke up.

"Guys, I think I'm going to head home now. I want to have a shower, and change. And I still haven't told my mom…" she said trailing off dreading having to go through the horror all over again when telling her mom.

"Okay Brie, I'll drive you. You gonna be okay here, Chad?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Stay strong Gabs," Chad responded and stood up going over to give Gabriella a hug.

"You too Chad. Love you," Gabriella told him. Despite the fact that she knew Chad was aware that she loved him like her own brother, she felt the need to tell him once again after the recent events.

"Love you too Gabster," Chad said with a small smile.

Troy and Gabriella began to descend the stairs and head out of his house. Once outside, Troy grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze. The drive back to her house was silent, as neither of them knew what to say. When Troy pulled into her driveway they sat still for a few moments.

"Will you stay with me when I tell her?" Gabriella asked.

"I will if you want me to."

Gabriella nodded her head in response. They both opened their doors to Troy's truck and hopped down. Gabriella made her way around the truck to Troy where she laced their hands together. She stopped walking just before she reached the door.

"I can't believe this happened," she whispered aloud.

"I know baby, neither can I. We'll deal with it though okay? All of us together, we're all gonna be okay," he responded.

"I sure hope so Troy."

"We will. Come on, let's get this over with."

Troy pulled Gabriella into a quick hug then kissed her forehead before pulling back. He gave her an encouraging smile and a squeeze to her hand to let her know that she could do this because he was right there with her. Gabriella attempted to smile back to him. She turned her body so it was once again facing her house before taking a deep breath and walked to her front door and clicked it open. Troy and Gabriella both slipped their shoes off in the front hall.

"Mom, are you home?" she called around the house

"Be down in one second!" the two teens heard from upstairs.

They headed into Gabriella's yellow living room and sat down on one of the suede brown couches. Gabriella kept her head down while Troy rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her.

Her mother came down the steps a few minutes later and spotted them both in the living room.

"Troy! Hello, I didn't know you were here too," the energetic mother immediately greeted.

"Hi, Mrs. Montez. I came with Gabriella."

Gabriella's mother nodded in understanding before picking up on the couples' mood. "Is everything alright?" she questioned.

"No," Gabriella stated simply.

"What's going on Mija?"

Gabriella felt Troy take one of her hands in his while the other hand remained on her back continuing to move up and down. Gabriella unconsciously squeezed Troy's hand a little bit tighter as she began to tell her mother what happened the previous night.

"Mom, last night when I was just leaving Troy's house Taylor called me. She was blabbering on about stuff… I couldn't really understand. Basically in the end I was sitting in the hospital by myself -" She saw Troy flinch from the corner of her eye and she squeezed his hand tighter in hers – "And there was this doctor there saying they did everything they could but they were too late. There was nothing more they could do for her," she stopped to take a shaky breath, willing herself not to cry just yet.

"What do you mean they were too late, there was nothing they could do for her? What happened to Taylor, Mija?" Mrs. Montez asked.

Gabriella looked down as she quietly stated, "She killed herself last night mami."

With that Gabriella turned her head so that it was resting up against Troy's strong shoulder. She let a few more tears escape her still swollen eyes and felt a small drop of liquid fall onto her head. She looked up to find tears rolling down Troy's cheeks before turning to her mother. There was shock written across her face as her mother searched for any words to say to make the pain disappear. Gabriella saw that tears had formed in her mothers eyes as well. Taylor had been like a second daughter to Mrs. Montez since she and Gabriella moved here in Gabriella's freshman year of high school.

"How could this have happened? There must be some mistake. Taylor would never do such a thing, she had far too many people that cared for her," Gabriella's mother stated, all the while knowing this new information was true. She looked to her daughter and daughter's boyfriend to see tears running down each young face. They were so young, all of them. They had their whole lives ahead of them, as did Taylor. Why had she done this? How had no one suspected it?

Gabriella stood up from the couch and from Troy's arms and headed over the where her mother was sitting. She sat down and Troy saw the two Montez women wrap their arms around each other as they cried. No one said anything for what seemed like hours, they all just sat merely thinking their own things about this tragedy.

Nearly an hour later, Troy stood up from the couch and addressed the two women.

"I should get going home now. I need to tell my parents too," he said solemnly.

Gabriella nodded her head in understanding as she stood as well. The two walked to the front hall together before enclosing each other in a hug. They stood hugging each other for a few minutes before finally pulling away. Troy placed on hand on her face, cupping her cheek.

"I love you okay?" Troy told her.

Gabriella nodded, "I love you too Troy."

The two hugged again once more before Troy leaned down to kiss Gabriella with all the emotion either of them could muster.

"I'll call you a little later on," Troy told her as he reached for the door. "Stay strong baby girl. And remember what I told you before… we'll all get through this together."

Gabriella nodded her head in response before giving his hand one last squeeze.

Troy walked out of Gabriella's house and headed to his truck. As he climbed in he saw Gabriella in the window and waved one last time before pulling out of the driveway after she waved back. Gabriella headed back into the living room where her mother was still sitting.

"Why didn't you call me Mija? I could have been there with you, you shouldn't have had to go through that alone," her mother stated quietly.

"I wasn't really thinking about it I guess. I mean… when I first realized something was wrong, I just wanted to get to her. Then to call 9-1-1 to make sure she was going to be okay. After that I couldn't really think. I was just sitting in the hospital only thinking about her and praying she would be okay."

"But after that… you didn't think about telling me then?"

"After I found out, I was heading home when I just felt like I needed to be with the guys. I knew that Troy would take care of me and that he would say all those things to try to convince me that everything would be okay. I knew that he would do exactly what I wanted without me being able to tell him, and I just needed that. Then when I got to Troy's, I realized that I had to tell Chad. I thought it would be better if he heard it from me, or even Troy instead of hearing it from someone. Then we were all just hurting about it and we didn't want to be alone so we just all stayed at Chad's."

"I guess that makes sense. But I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you."

"It's okay," Gabriella said quietly.

"Do her parents know?" Mrs. Montez asked after a few moments.

Gabriella shook her head. "They were out of town for the weekend, visiting Taylor's grandparents' new house. Taylor couldn't go because she said she had too much homework to finish."

"Oh no. Do you know when they get home?"

"Tomorrow night. But Taylor wanted to get all of her homework out of the way the first weekend of Spring Break so that she could enjoy the rest of the week. Or that's what she told us all," Gabriella whispered the last part.

"I'll have to go call them. If they've been trying to call her from wherever they are, they'll be worried sick. They're going to have to find out sometime," Mrs. Montez reasoned.

"Don't do it over the phone though. Just tell them to come home and you need to talk to them about Tay. But don't do it over the phone," Gabriella stressed.

"Okay Mija, I won't. Go on up and have a nice bath to relax and then change into your pajama's," Mrs. Montez said to her daughter before giving her a hug.

Gabriella started up the stairs where she passed a picture of her and Taylor at their first trip to the beach together the summer of freshman year. Gabriella started the water in the bathtub while she let out a few sobs for her best friend.

She spent about half an hour in the bathtub before noticing that the water was getting cool. Grabbing a towel, she stepped out and wrapped it around her petite body. She headed into her large bedroom where she pulled out a comfortable pair of pajamas and changed quickly. She laid down on her bed feeling very tired – despite the fact that she slept in at Chad's - and thought about Taylor before slowly drifting off to sleep.

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3


	3. Chapter 3

The following morning Gabriella woke to a warm hand on her back shaking her out of her slumber

The following morning Gabriella woke to a warm hand on her back shaking her out of her slumber. Her shoulders felt cold, and her feet felt paralyzed where they were. She opened her eyes to small slits and saw that her comforter had been pushed to the end of her bed, and that her sheets were tangled around her feet. She turned around and opened her eyes a little more to see her mother sitting on the side of her bed with a plate of warm cinnamon rolls in one hand.

"Mija, wake up. I brought you some breakfast," her mother said quietly.

"Thanks, but I don't really feel like getting up just yet. I'm just going to lay in bed for a bit longer," Gabriella replied.

"Don't stay there too long, it's already 10:30," Mrs. Montez advised.

She put the now cool plate of cinnamon rolls on the bedside table for Gabriella to eat. Gabriella rolled over in her bed and got comfortable as she heard her mothers footsteps getting quieter as she left her room. Gabriella reached down to straighten the sheets that were still tangled around her feet and pull the covers up to warm her petite body. She knew that she would not get back to sleep, but she wasn't ready to get up and face the world just yet. It was like while she was still in her bed she was safe. She wasn't risking feeling anymore pain if she wasn't even getting up. This was the only place she could really feel safe now. As she thought about it more, she realized that maybe there was one other place that could replace this feeling of being safe. It was her protection from the world; her shield from all the evils that could possibly come her way. It was in Troy's arms. Troy was her savior from the world, without him Gabriella would have nothing now. That thought brought back the feelings from the previous day and even the day before that. Suddenly she felt as thought staying in bed for the rest of the day would be the only thing she could do.

"I can't face the world without you Tay," she whispered to herself.

She felt salty tears scratch down her face once again. She closed her eyes hoping to stop the tears and drift off to another world where she no longer felt pain, or any emotion for that matter.

What felt like only minutes later she heard a faint buzzing noise on her bedside table. She rolled over to see who was calling her. Picking up the phone she saw the name "Troy" displayed across the screen. She sighed as she put the phone back down and rolled over once again, losing herself in her safe place. She wasn't in the mood to hear Troy tell her that she needed to get up, that this wasn't good for her, blah, blah, blah. She was going to do whatever she felt like it. No one understood what she was going through, therefore no one could tell her what she should and should not be doing at a time like this.

A short while later Gabriella heard her mothers soft knocking on her door.

"Ella? Can I come in?" her mother wondered aloud.

Gabriella shoved her head under her pillow in response. She still heard her mothers footsteps as they got closer to her bed. Then she felt the bed sink down, as she realized her mother was now sitting on her bed.

"I called Taylor's parents."

Gabriella felt her breath get caught in her throat at the mention of Taylor's name.

"They're on their way home now, and should be here by dinner. I'm going to head over there to talk to them when they arrive, I just wasn't sure if you wanted to come with me or not," Mrs. Montez explained.

"No. I'm not living through that again. I can't replay it all over anymore, it just hurts way too much," Gabriella replied.

"Okay mija, I understand completely. I just thought I would ask."

Gabriella's mother reached over and stroked her daughter's hair. She was about to comment on the fact that Gabriella was still in bed, but decided against it. No matter what she told her daughter she knew that Gabriella would more than likely ignore her and continue to stay in bed. She stood up from the bed and started walking out of Gabriella's room. When she reached the door she stopped herself.

"Would you like something to eat? I can make you some macaroni if you like," her mother inquired.

"I don't care," Gabriella stated.

Her mother sighed, "Okay," she said after a moment and walked down to the kitchen. She began to pull out a pot to cook the macaroni in when the phone rang. Mrs. Montez walked over and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Montez. It's Troy. Is Gabriella there?"

"She is, but she won't get up. She's still in bed. No matter what I do or say she just lies there looking so lost."

"Well, would you mind if I came over? I mean, I can try to get her up and moving at least," Troy said.

"That would be great Troy. I don't think she'll get up any other way," Mrs. Montez stated.

"Okay I'll be over in a few minutes. Bye Mrs. Montez."

"Bye Troy."

The two hung up their phones. Mrs. Montez went back to making the macaroni for her grieving daughter. After putting the water on to boil, she sat down at the kitchen table and started to go through some of the pictures she knew that she had of Taylor. She figured that they might be useful at the funeral and anything she could do to help out the McKessie's she would. She put the pasta in the water to begin cooking when she heard a knock at the door. She headed over to open it and reveal a sad looking blue-eyed boy.

"Hi Troy. How're you doing?" Mrs. Montez asked as Troy stepping in the house.

"I'm alright. I mean I wasn't as close to Taylor as Gabi was, but she was still part of this whole "family" we had. It's been hard for all of us, so I can only imagine what Gabi can be going through right now."

"I know. And I have to tell Taylor's parents tonight. They were out of town for the weekend. They weren't supposed to come home until tomorrow, but I managed to track down the number of where they were and they're on their way now. This is going to be the hardest day of my life, and probably theirs too," Mrs. Montez replied.

Troy just nodded unsure of what to say to that. He looked up towards the stairs that led to Gabriella's room.

"Go on. She needs someone right now, whether she admits it or not. I hope you can help her," Mrs. Montez stated quietly.

"I hope so too," Troy whispered as he began to ascend the stairs.

He walked down the hallway to the last door on his left. He knocked quietly. Nothing. He thought that maybe she had fallen asleep, but then realized there was very little chance that Gabriella would be asleep. He pushed open her door a little bit to see a lump covered in blankets on the bed. He walked closer to her bed and saw her wavy dark brown hair sprawled out across the pillows.

"Gabi? Are you awake?" Troy said, completely aware of the answer but unsure of what else to ask.

"Would it make a difference if I wasn't?" she said quietly.

"I don't know," Troy admitted. "Why are you still in bed?"

"Because I want to be. There's no point in getting up."

"Brie, please get up. Let's go watch a movie or something," Troy tried.

"No, it's better to stay in bed," Gabriella said.

"Why?" Troy wondered aloud.

"Because. Because then nothing can hurt me. My bed is safe. It keeps me safe; it keeps me away from the world cause I'm just lying here by myself away from the rest of the world. And if I'm away from the world then it can't break me down even more than it has."

"Gabi… you're bed can only keep you safe for so long. After a while you start losing more because you're simply staying in bed. You aren't living you're life. You need to get out and live. You need to feel good while you can. Don't waste your life away because you were afraid to get out into the world. That's just not living at all. Pretty soon you'll realize that by staying in bed to "keep yourself safe" all you're really doing is running away from everything and hiding.

"Well until I realize those things, I think I'll just stay here."

"Okay fine," Troy stated.

Gabriella couldn't figure out why she was so cold to Troy. She had never really said anything like that to him. He really was only trying to help her. But nothing could help her now. Nothing was going to bring Taylor back. Gabriella suddenly felt the other side of her bed sink down. She rolled over to her back and turned her head to see that Troy was lying down next to her with his head facing her.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked.

"Lying down. If you aren't going to get up, then I'm just going to stay here with you," Troy explained.

"Troy…"

Suddenly Troy reached forward and pulled her small body closer to his as he draped his arm across her stomach. Gabriella subconsciously nuzzled her head into the crook of Troy's neck and closed her eyes. The two teenagers lay on Gabriella's bed without saying a word. After a few moments Mrs. Montez walked upstairs with the macaroni all made. She looked into Gabriella's room to see the two teens resting quietly together. A small smile graced her lips as she turned around and walked downstairs leaving the two together. They could come get food when they were hungry.

Gabriella felt different. She knew that she really should get up, especially now that Troy was here for her. And yet she still didn't have the will power to do anything more then rest here in Troy's arms. She felt almost like things would actually end up okay when she was in Troy's arms. He made everything feel better. It was like he could erase all the pain that she had been feeling. He could make her forget about what happened with Taylor. Taylor. In an instant all the emotions Gabriella had been feeling since she was sitting in the hospital with the young doctors hand on hers all surfaced. She felt like crying but couldn't get any tears anymore.

"Do you want something to eat? You must be hungry," Troy asked her.

Gabriella shook her head in response.

"Do you want a drink? Water, juice, anything?" Troy tried again.

Gabriella again shook her head. This time she rolled over on her stomach and turned her head away from Troy.

"Come on Gabi, you need to do something more than just lie here."

Still Gabriella said nothing. Troy was confused with this sudden change in her mood. She was starting to act like the Gabriella he knew while she was in his arms. Now she just seemed to be withdrawing even more. Troy was at a complete loss as to what to do. Still, he lay next to her. He wanted to be there for her if she needed anything. He wanted her to know that he was there for her, and wanted to help her get over this.

Shortly after, Mrs. Montez stuck her head into Gabriella's room.

"I have to go to the McKessie's now. Troy you're welcome to stay with Gabriella. I'll be home when I can."

"Okay, thanks Mrs. Montez," Troy responded.

Troy heard her travel down the stairs then exit through the front door.

"Do you want me to make some food?" Troy asked.

"I don't care."

"Okay, come on. You need to get something into you."

"Sure, but I'm going to stay here. I don't want to get up," Gabriella mumbled into her pillow.

Troy got up off the bed and walked over to Gabriella's walk in closet. He pulled out a pair of track pants, and one of his sweatshirts. He made his way back to Gabriella's bed and put them on the end of the bed.

"Come on Brie, it's time to get up."

"No"

Troy walked around to the other side of Gabriella's bed. He bent down to where Gabriella's head was and reached out to brush a piece of hair from her forehead.

"Gabi, please get up," Troy pleaded.

"I don't want to Troy."

Troy wouldn't take no for an answer so he stood up once again and leaned over Gabriella. He slipped one arm under her legs and one arm under her back and swiftly lifted her out of bed.

"Troy put me back in bed now please," Gabriella stated quietly. She knew that Troy wouldn't do something he didn't want to once his mind was made up. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder as he began to walk around the other side of the bed. He set her down in front of her clothes.

"Change into these and meet me downstairs. And don't even think about getting back into that bed," Troy told her.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and walked out of the room so that Gabriella could change. As he began to walk downstairs he tried to think of something he could cook for the two of them.

Gabriella just stared at the clothes for a few minutes. It would be the perfect chance to get back in bed. Troy wasn't here to stop her, and she could just climb back in and keep herself from the rest of the world. She began to step over to the bed and get in when she stopped herself. This wasn't right. She sighed again as she picked up the track pants Troy left for her. She changed into the pants followed by Troy's sweatshirt. She stepped into her blue fuzzy slippers and started to walk out of her room. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to see that Troy was leaning up against the counters with something in the microwave.

"Hey there you are beautiful," he said as he began walking towards her.

"Hi," Gabriella replied quietly as though she was shy to be with him.

Troy made his way over and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She lifted her arms and loosely draped them around his waste as well. They stayed like that until a faint beeping interrupted them. Troy turned around and walked back to the microwave.

"Macaroni?" Troy asked with a smile.

Gabriella nodded and sat down at one of the stools at the bar on the island. The two of them sat together and ate the macaroni that Gabriella's mom made earlier that afternoon.

"Do you want to head over to Chad's later on?" Troy asked her.

Gabriella shrugged in response.

"Okay well I'll give him a call to see if he wants to hang out."

"Okay," Gabriella replied quietly.

Troy walked over to Gabriella's phone and began dialing Chad's number. Gabriella took a bite of her macaroni and realized how hungry she really was. By the time Troy came back she had already finished most of her plate of macaroni.

"Kay, well Chad said that we can head over to his place anytime now," Troy told her.

"Okay. I'm just going to finish this," she said pointing to her plate.

"No problem."

Gabriella finished her meal and put her dishes in the sink. She wrote her mother a quick note letting her know where she would be in case her mom got home before she did. Troy and Gabriella began walking over to Chad's house since it was only a few streets away. When they entered Chad's house, the three headed downstairs. Gabriella stayed quite as the two boys decided to watch a movie.

"What do you feel like watching Gabs?" Chad turned to her.

Gabriella shrugged in response, not saying anything.

The two boys looked at each other skeptically and went back to choosing a movie hoping to find one that everyone would enjoy. They began reading titles out loud. One by one, hoping Gabriella would find something that she would like. After a few minutes of going through movies Chad found another row.

"A Walk to Remember?" he questioned.

"No," they heard a firm but quiet voice reply. Both boys turned to look over at Gabriella in confusion. "It was Tay's favorite," she explained with sad eyes.

The boys immediately looked down then nodded. After a few more minutes they finally decided on Transformers. About halfway into the movie Gabriella got up to go to the bathroom and Chad turned to Troy.

"Dude, has she been like this all day?"

"She's been worse. I have no idea how I managed to get her out of the house. She wouldn't even get out of bed for hours after I got there," Troy explained.

"What are we going to do? There has to be something we can do to help her," Chad thought desperately.

"I think the only thing we can do right now is be there for her. She just lost her best friend. Worse yet, she was there when it happened. I know that everyone else is hurting too but no one can really understand what she's going through other than her."

"Yeah. I had a dream about Tay last night. I don't really remember what happened though, just that she was there. I wish she was still here."

"We all do man. I'm really impressed with how you're handling the whole thing though. But you know that I'm always here if you need someone to talk to. Not to get all mushy on you or anything, I just mean… well… if you feel like… you know what I'm saying," Troy said.

"Thanks man. I guess it still hasn't really hit me. But I know that I've got you guys, we all got each other's back in this. If we stick together then we'll end up okay. I know that she didn't do this to hurt any of us. And I know that if we stay strong together through all the pain that we feel from this, then Gabs will see that she can be strong too. I guess I'm trying to get through this and figure out how to deal with this all while trying to help her too," Chad explained.

"You were always a good guy that way," Gabriella whispered from the doorway.

"Thanks Gabs," Chad said with a crooked smile.

Gabriella returned to her seat and the three continued to watch the movie. When the movie ended Troy and Gabriella got up to leave, and Troy walked Gabriella home. When they were approaching Gabriella's house, Troy turned to her.

"You gonna be okay?" Troy asked concerned.

"I guess eventually I will be. Everything ends up okay. If it's not okay, it's not the end. And it's like Chad says, we got each others' back."

"Yep. You know that if you need me, all you have to do is call right. I mean even if it's three in the morning, I'll come. I'll always come."

"Thanks Troy," Gabriella said as she walked up her front steps.

"Well goodnight. Have a good sleep baby, I love you," Troy said kissing Gabriella on the forehead.

Gabriella nodded. "Love you too," she added. She opened the door and stepped inside. Turning around, she waved at Troy one last time before he began his own journey home.

"Ella, is that you?" she heard her mothers voice call from upstairs.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied just loud enough to be heard.

She began the climb up the stairs to find her mother. When she got to the top of the stairs she was suddenly wrapped in her mothers comforting arms. They stayed in that position for a few minutes before her mother backed up again. Gabriella could see that her mother's eyes were a faint pinkish- red colour. The way they looked after she cried.

"You've been crying," Gabriella stated.

"Well yes. It was very hard not to while I was at the McKessie's tonight."

Gabriella nodded. "I don't really want to hear the detail, if that's okay."

"I understand mija. But they did want me to let you know that when you're ready they would like you to go over there and help them with some things in her room. I'm not really sure what they meant though."

"They probably just want me to get Taylor's school books to return when I go back after Spring Break is done," Gabriella thought out loud.

"I guess that makes sense. Well then you have a full week since you don't have to go back tomorrow."

"Yeah. I'm going to head to bed now mom. See you in the morning."

"Okay goodnight, sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too mom," Gabriella replied. The past few days had reminded her just how important it was to tell those around you how much you cared about them.

Gabriella headed to her room for the night. She walked over to her bed and pulled off the sweatshirt she was wearing as she was walking. She climbed into bed too tired to change out of the t-shirt or track pants she was in. She closed her eyes welcoming the sleep that she could feel coming. Tomorrow was a new day. Another new day without her best friend by her side.


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning Gabriella woke up with a pounding headache. She got out of bed and stumbled into her bathroom searching for something to make it go away. After finding a small bottle of Tylenol she carefully picked it up. It was funny how one seemingly meaningless item could bring you back to places you never wanted to be again. Like the way that this seemingly meaningless bottle could bring her back to the night when Taylor called her crying hysterically… asking her to hurry while apologizing over and over again. No, she was not going to go over that night. She had to stop replaying it in her head. She forced herself to walk back into her room, pushing previous thoughts away. She climbed back into bed and lay on her back. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before getting up again. She walked over to her desk where her iPod was sitting in its docking station. She picked up her iPod and found a pair of headphones in one of the drawers and carried them back to her bed. Again, she plopped down on her back and shoved her headphones into her ears. She pushed the shuffle button before closing her eyes and letting the music take over her. She lay in bed like that, overwhelmed by the music and the way it made her feel. It was like the music was flowing through her, traveling through her veins. It was like with every note sung or played her heart pulsed a little bit more; she could feel a little bit more. The words were those that she could relate to. It was like with every melody she played her soul seemed to heal just a little bit more. Then a familiar song came on and Gabriella's breath hitched as she listened to the lyrics.

_I used to rely on you, but then i saw  
You, staring up from under sheets that  
Lie on top of hospital beds, but where is  
Your pulse? you want to pull that IV  
Right out of my arm, but why don't  
You? why don't you stay? _

_Don't die on me tonight  
Don't die on me tonight_

_Don't die on me tonight  
Don't die on me tonight _

_Don't die on me tonight_

_You've died on me tonight_

The music no longer helped her. It wasn't healing her anymore. With every word she heard her heart seemed to ache more. Yet despite the pain it created inside her, Gabriella couldn't bring herself to turn off the song. She found herself saying the words in her head along with the song.

_If sorry was an honest statement  
This lost cause won't hit the pavement  
You believe it's lost it's gone, I believe in  
Hope, and carrying on and I'm  
Pacing back and forth for you,  
When in emergency rooms, but don't say  
A damn word cause, your eyes, they have  
Said enough, said enough _

_It's hard to operate, when your threats,  
Are just as empty as the other side of  
Your bed late at night, but where is  
Your heart tonight? You pray for second  
Chances, on second hand clocks, but why  
Don't you? Why don't you stay?_

Gabriella heard a knock on her door. She looked up from where she was lying and saw her mom's head in the doorway.

"Morning Ella. I just wanted to say hi to you before I had to go to work. I made some pancakes for you for breakfast. I should be home around five tonight. Have a good day Ella,"

"Mmhmm," Gabriella responded.

By the time her mother had left and let Gabriella get back to the music, the song had finished and was now playing something loud and upbeat. Gabriella turned off her iPod and walked back to her bathroom where she turned on the shower. She peeled her clothes off one by one before stepping into the steaming shower. She let the hot water caress her back for a few minutes. She thought about Taylor once more, the million questions still floating through her mind. Gabriella realized that she had tears rolling down her face mixing with the clean water from the shower. She slowly made her way to the bottom of the shower where she sat hugging her knees close to her. She stayed like that for nearly half an hour crying, until there was nothing left in her to cry anymore. She cried for Taylor, and she cried for Chad and the rest of the gang. She cried for Taylor's parents, her mother, and mostly she cried for herself. She realized that she was angry. She was angry with Taylor for not speaking up about being so hurt while she could. She was mad that Taylor didn't try to get any kind of help to save her. She was mad that no one did save her. She was mad that she didn't save Taylor. Finally she used the strength she had to stand up and turn the water off. She stepped out of the shower feeling the much cooler air surround her body. She grabbed a towel and immediately wrapped it around her body to warm herself up. She felt guilty for the anger she had inside her. She knew that it wasn't anyone's fault that Taylor had done it. Feeling guilty about the anger only made her feel even more angry with herself.

She began walking to her large walk-in closet to find some clothes to wear. She finally decided on another pair of comfy pants and a plain Abercrombie t-shirt. She went to hang the towel up in her bathroom after changing. As she was walking she saw a picture of herself and Taylor hanging on her wall. It was taken when she, Taylor, Troy and Chad had gone to the beach one day last summer. The two girls were laughing and playing in the water. It was one of those pictures that had captured every emotion and instantly brought you back to the moment every time you looked at it. Without thinking Gabriella walked over to the picture frame and took it off the wall. She held it in her hands wishing to be back on that beach. Before Gabriella realized what she was doing her arm threw the picture out of her grasp. All the anger from earlier surfaced and she watched as the picture seemed to fly in slow motion until it hit her wall. The frame and the glass seemed to break into a thousand pieces, scattered all across the floor. Gabriella stood over the broken pieces of glass and looked at the back of the picture as it lay across her floor. She heard pounding of some sort in the background but couldn't bring herself to care about what it was. She felt her knees about to give way. She tried to steady herself and her emotions but felt more overwhelmed than ever before. Her knees gave way and just as she was about to hit the ground in defeat, she felt two strong arms grab her and pull her back up. Her body seemed to shake with sobs, but there were no tears coming. She felt herself being lifted up, off her feet, as someone carried her to her bed. She closed her eyes and tried to make every emotion she felt disappear. She felt someone brush away her bangs out of her eyes as her breath began to even out again.

"Gabi, what happened?"

"My best friend died," she stated simply.

She heard him sigh in response and felt him squeeze her hand. "I meant with the picture, what happened to it?"

"It broke."

"I know, but how?"

"I threw it. I don't know why. I just all of the sudden was so angry and I couldn't hold it all in. I just threw it and it broke."

"It's okay," he said after a minute.

"No it's not Troy. It's not okay. Nothing is okay. Taylor is gone. She's not going to come back either. And I didn't save her."

"Baby, don't start with this. You know that it was not your fault. There is no reason that you should even start blaming yourself for this. She needed help, but she kept that inside. We couldn't have helped her. You alone could not have saved her no matter how much you wish you could have. She was sick Brie," Troy said.

"But I didn't even see that. She was my best friend Troy, and I was too blind to see how much she was hurting."

"Even if you had seen that she was sick, what would you have done? Things like this don't just go away overnight. You, Chad, me… even all of us together wouldn't have been able to stop her. So don't start putting any sort of blame on yourself for this."

Gabriella remained silent for a few minutes taking it all in. "I didn't even get to say bye to her."

"I know sweetie. None of us did."

"Am I gonna be okay Troy?"

"Yes," he said right away. "You're going to be just fine. I know it hurts now, but we're all hurting for the same reason, and the same person. We'll stick together through this and we'll all help each other so we're all okay."

Gabriella nodded her head slightly. The two were silent for a few minutes. Gabriella lay in her bed while Troy sat next to her, slowly running his hand up and down her back.

"How did you get in here?" Gabriella asked after a few minutes.

"Your mom called me before she left and asked if I could come over at some point to check on you today. She said that she would leave the side door open in case you didn't come to the front to let me in. I rang the doorbell once, but when you didn't answer I just came in through the side. And I heard your shower so I figured that I would stay downstairs and figure out what we'd have for lunch. Then I heard the glass and came running," he explained.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"So how about we go get some pancakes now?" Troy asked after a few minutes.

"Can you just bring them up here? I don't want to go downstairs."

"Sure, do you want syrup with them?"

"Yes please," Gabriella whispered.

Troy got up to go get her pancakes and Gabriella's eyes began to droop closed. She heard the microwave downstairs start up before she fell asleep.

There was a knock on her door. She lifted her head slightly off the pillow to see who it was. There at the entrance to her room stood a happy looking Taylor.

"Girl, what are you doing in bed still? Get up it's spring break! You're wasting away here in your bed. We have shopping to do!" said Taylor.

"What the hell? Taylor… where did you come from?" demanded a very confused Gabriella.

"Umm… my house? I drove over here. I thought we were going to the mall today?" Taylor asked perplexed.

"Tay what are you talking about? I mean you can't really be here. This isn't happening. This isn't possible. I'm going crazy," Gabriella said the last part to herself.

"What do you mean I can't be here… I'm right here aren't I?"

"You're supposed to be dead! You died on Friday night!" Gabriella screamed.

"Gabs, you're freaking me out. Clearly I did not die, as I am right here. I've always been here. I'll always be here." Taylor said taking a step forward.

"But…" Gabriella started unsure of what to say. What was going on? She looked down at her hands holding her comforter and gripping tightly in frustration. She looked up again to see Taylor walking forwards towards her bed. As she got closer and closer Gabriella continued to watch her, trying to decipher what was happening. She began to understand as she saw Taylor walk right through the end of her bed toward her.

"Taylor you aren't real," Gabriella said quietly.

"I know," she replied with a sad smile, looking around her where she was now standing in the middle of Gabriella's bed.

"Well how can I see you then?" Gabriella wondered aloud.

"That doesn't matter. It only matters that you can. I wanted to say bye to you. And that I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I never ever meant to hurt you through all of this. I love you like my own sister Gabs."

"Why Taylor? Why did you do it?" Gabriella wanted to know. She could feel tears begin to pour out of her eyes once again.

"Shh, don't ask that. I have to go now. Bye Gabs. I love you. Tell everyone else that too. Remember, whenever you need me I'll be there. I'll always be there for you girl. I promise."

"No Taylor, don't go. Not yet. I can't do this without you. You're my best friend," Gabriella could see Taylor walking backwards away from her again. "Stop, don't leave me like this."

Taylor gave Gabriella a sad smile. "I'll always be here. Bye Gabs," Taylor said as her figure disappeared around the corner.

"Bye Tay," whispered Gabriella.

Gabriella woke up feeling shaken. She had tears rolling down her face as she sat up to look around. She saw the broken frame on the floor. She saw Troy's jacket on the bench at the end of her bed. It had all been a dream. The realization that she saw her best friend come back to her in a dream scared her more than anything she'd ever felt before.

"Troy!" she screamed, she needed to feel like she wasn't crazy. "Troy!" she yelled again, more frantically this time. She heard him pounding up the stairs and rush into her room over to her bed.

"What? What's wrong? Are you okay?" he panicked.

Gabriella leaned forward and pulled Troy close to her. He wrapped his arms around her in response and began rubbing her back again out of habit.

"Just hold me please, Troy," Gabriella whispered.

"Okay."

The two stayed like that for over ten minutes while Gabriella calmed down. Finally she pulled back.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"Anytime. Do you want to talk about it?" Troy asked gently.

"You'll think I'm crazy," she replied.

"I could never think that."

"Okay… well… I had a dream." Gabriella began. "And Taylor was there. Only it didn't feel like a dream. I thought it was real. I was here in bed and she came up to my room and was saying that we were supposed to go shopping cause it was spring break. Then she walked into my bed. I mean she walked right through it, and I realized she wasn't real. But she told me that she wanted to come back to say bye. You think I'm crazy don't you?" Gabriella asked Troy.

"No Gabi, I don't. She'll always be there for you. You just have to remember that."

"That's what she said too. That whenever I needed her, she'd always be there."

Troy nodded unsure of what to respond. They both sat thinking about how Taylor had come to say bye to Gabriella.

"She told me to say bye to you guys as well. And that she loves you guys," Gabriella said after a minute.

Troy smiled at that, thinking back to the way Taylor was when they were all together. He liked it when they were all together.

"Can we go eat those pancakes now? I'm hungry," Gabriella stated after a minute.

"Sure, come on," Troy took her hand and the two of them went downstairs.

They spent the rest of the afternoon together eating and talking and watching T.V. They called Chad and he came over and hung out with them as well. Gabriella told Chad about her dream and what Taylor wanted her to tell the rest of the gang. Chad got teary eyed hearing about it, and thinking back to his girlfriend. At ten after five, Gabriella's mom walked in from work.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see you guys down here," Mrs. Montez said startled.

"Yeah we were just talking and hanging out down here for a bit," Troy explained.

"Well that's nice. Boys would you two like to stay for dinner? I can put a couple pizza's in the oven," Gabriella's mom asked.

The two looked at Gabriella who didn't say anything, but seemed to have that look in her eye that told them both that she didn't want to be alone.

"That would be really great. Thanks Mrs. Montez," Chad answered.

"Guys, how many times have I told you two? Call me Ana."

"Right, okay," Chad said.

Ana walked away and went to the kitchen to put some pizza's in the oven. The three continued to talk until the pizza was ready. They sat and watched some more T.V. while they ate their food. The evening went by fairly quickly and soon Chad and Troy headed home. Gabriella said goodnight to her mom and went up to her room. After she got all ready for bed, she grabbed her iPod again and began listening to some more music before she finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep for the night.

* * *

**So there it is, number four. I'm not really sure what I think about this one. It didn't really come out the way I had imagined it. Hopefully you guys enjoy it though! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! It's awesome to see that people are actually reading this story. :) --Kay**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading/reviewing!! So this is the next chapter. It's my last day of summer today :( It sucks, I'm not too excited to be going back but it's gotta be done. But that means that I'm going to have more work to do now, and writing may become more of a challenge. I'm still trying to get in as much time as I can to write though. And I'm still going to try to come out with one chapter a week (basically every Monday is what I hope) but if I'm a few days late posting, I'm sorry. But I'm going to try.  
This chapter was pretty hard for me to write. I wanted to get it perfect, but I'm not sure if it's there yet. Hopefully you guys like it, and hopefully it's not going too slow for you guys. It'll pick up the pace later on. -- Kay**

* * *

The rest of spring break was spent doing the same things. Gabriella rarely left her house for any reason. She, Troy and Chad still got together but it was never the same without Taylor there. Gabriella got a small amount of homework done each day before she gave up. Despite the dream that Gabriella had, and Taylor's message to her, she continued to mourn. It seemed that with each passing day without Taylor, Gabriella's life was getting harder and harder. She wanted someone to go shopping with, she wanted someone who could make her laugh so hard that she would cry, she wanted someone who would sit and cry with her while watching sappy movies. She needed her best friend. There seemed to be no light at the end of the road for Gabriella. She was constantly reminded that the boys would always be there for her, and she had plenty of friends at school that would help her get through this. But that was another problem she had yet to face. School. How was she supposed to go back to school after spring break was over? Taylor was in almost all of her classes and now… that seat would be empty every single day. She had no idea how she would find the strength to go back to school without her best friend.

When Friday came, Gabriella knew that she should go to Taylor's house to do what the McKessie's wanted her help with. The funeral was going to be the following Thursday. Gabriella wondered who would show up to her best friend's funeral. Somehow she hoped that there weren't too many kids from her school that came claiming they knew Taylor so well, creating more drama. Somehow she knew that would happen though. Whether it was at school or at the funeral, it would happen.

She got up out of bed and went to her bathroom to have a shower. When she was finished there she headed downstairs to get something to eat. She ended up grapping some Pop Tarts and tossing them in the toaster. While they were cooking, she decided she should call Troy to tell him about her plans for the day so he didn't show up to an empty house. The phone rang three times before finally she heard his voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Troy,"

"Hey Gabi, what's up? You okay?" Troy asked immediately sounding concerned.

"I'm fine; I just wanted to call you to let you know not to come over today. I'm going over to Taylor's cause her parents wanted me to help them with something."

"Oh, okay. Do you… do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I think this is something I need to do on my own," stated Gabriella.

"Okay. Well call me when you're finished if you want to do something. I'll be at Chad's if I'm not here when you call."

"Kay. See you later Troy."

"Bye Gabi."

Gabriella hung up the phone and went to eat her Pop Tarts. It was going to be a long day.

Gabriella left her plate in the sink as she headed upstairs to grab her purse. She drove to Taylor's house alone. It was the first time she had been back to Taylor's house since that fateful day. As she pulled up to the driveway, she nearly turned around seeing the house again. She took a deep breath as she turned the car off, knowing that whatever this was, it had to be done sooner or later. Better to get it over with now then to put it off for later. She walked up Taylor's wide driveway and knocked on the front door. She stood for a moment on the front porch thinking that she was crazy to come here during the day. Taylor's parents would be at work now. She began to walk back towards her car when she heard the front door click open and Taylor's mother appear in the doorway.

"Oh, Gabriella. Hi hun," Taylor's mom, Rachel, greeted.

"Hi, Rachel. Um… my mom said that you wanted me to come over to help with some stuff in Tay's room?" Gabriella inquired.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind. You were her best friend, you knew her better than anyone did. Come on in."

Gabriella stepped through the doorway. She looked around the house trying to find some sort of a sign to show the large hole that now filled this house. Nothing seemed to be different. All the pictures were still in the same places, all the shoes were still piled neatly on the shoe rack next to the door. Except there were lots of papers and pamphlets and pictures on the dining room table.

"We were just trying to finalize some things for the funeral," Rachel explained as though reading Gabriella's mind about the papers.

"Oh, right. There's this… I mean if you needed… I have a really good picture of Taylor and I at the beach from last summer if you needed more pictures," Gabriella suggested.

"I think Tay would like that. She loved the beach," Rachel replied somewhat distant. "Are you ready to head up to her room now?"

"I guess as ready as I'll ever be," Gabriella stated.

Rachel nodded as she led the way to Taylor's room. She stood outside the closed door for a minute, fingering the doorknob before she turned to Gabriella.

"If you could just take her textbooks and return them to school that would be a great help. And if she still had any of your clothes of course you can have those back. You can actually have any of the clothes in there that you like… the rest I think we're giving to charity. Anything else that you find that you may want, I'd like it if you just checked with me. I understand there are some things that she loved that you may want to keep, but at the same time they may be important to us as well," Rachel explained.

"Of course, I understand. Thank you."

Gabriella turned towards the door again and slowly opened it. Her breathing seemed to stop as soon as she began to walk in Taylor's room. For a few minutes she just stood in the middle of the room looking around and thinking back to the countless memories that took place in this room. She could feel the emotions of losing Taylor surface again but there just didn't seem to be any more tears in her that she could cry. After a short while she gained her courage again quite suddenly. She knew that she was here for a purpose and knowing that Taylor's parents trusted her to be the one to sort through all of Taylor's things. She began with Taylor's closet. She found a few items of hers that Taylor had borrowed and grabbed them. Then she began to sort through other items that Taylor had. She took a couple sweatshirts, t-shirts and some of her accessories. She found Taylor's school bag and took all of the text books from it. She placed them on the bed, next to all the clothes she was taking home with her as well. She went over to Taylor's jewelry box wondering what she had in there. She picked up an old "Best friends forever" necklace that she had given Taylor as part of her 16th birthday present. She rummaged around some more and found a beautiful ruby ring set in white gold with tiny diamonds around it that she knew Taylor got for Valentines Day from Chad. Gabriella had helped pick out the ring because Chad wanted Taylor to like it so much. She tried to open the bottom drawer but it got caught as she pulled. She got it open a crack and saw that there were some papers in the way. Gabriella used her baby finger to push down the paper and pull out the drawer. She gasped aloud when she realized what it was. There were three envelopes there. The top one was labeled "Mom and Daddy", the second had "Gabs" written on it, and the third envelope said "Chad". Gabriella took the three over to the bed and sat down. She began to open up the envelope with her name on it. She took a deep breath and realized she couldn't do it. This wasn't the time or place to read this, as Gabriella knew what it was. This was Taylor's goodbye to her. It was Taylor's explanation. She set the envelope down on the other things that she was taking with her. She finished going through a few more things in Taylor's room, leaving most of the things there. She did grab the ring that Chad gave her, thinking that he would like to have it back. She also grabbed a few other small things that reminded her of Taylor.

She walked back downstairs to tell Taylor's mom about what she found. She saw Rachel sitting at the dining room table once again, surrounded by papers.

"Rachel?" Gabriella said quietly.

"Oh hey, you're done in there?"

"Yeah I think so. I just wanted to give you this. I found it in her jewelry box," Gabriella handed the letter to a shocked Rachel.

"You think this is to us from her right before she…?" Rachel asked.

"I'm almost positive it is. There was one for me and one for Chad there as well."

Rachel nodded her head. "I thought that we were never going to get any closure on this whole ordeal. It's so hard to lose a child, but to lose my only baby that way and not even know that she was that sick… and not even get to say bye was… well heartbreaking to say the least."

"I know. I wish I could have done something to help her," Gabriella whispered the grief and anger and guilt rising up again.

"Don't blame yourself Gabriella. Everyone wants to put the blame on themselves but sooner or later you have to accept that this was in no way your fault. No one blames you, so don't look for reasons to blame yourself sweetie."

Gabriella nodded in response. "I'm just going to grab the stuff I have upstairs still and then I'm going to head home."

"Okay. Thanks for coming by Gabriella," Rachel said.

"Your welcome"

Gabriella went upstairs to get the remaining items that she was taking with her. She took one final look around Taylor's room before shutting the door behind her closing off Taylor's world once again. She made her way downstairs and waved to Rachel before heading outside again to her car. She drove home in silence, not even bothering to turn on the radio to let the music flow through her. When she arrived at her house she turned the engine off and quickly got out of the car. She looked beside her to where many of Taylor's things lay on the passenger seat. She picked up the envelope with her name on it and left everything else sitting in her car. When she walked through her front door she kicked off her shoes. She immediately made her way back up to her room and headed straight for her bed. It really had been a long day, and Gabriella wasn't sure that reading a certain letter she had on her bedside table would be the best thing for her now. Instead she curled up under the covers and closed her eyes before falling into a restless sleep.

Gabriella woke a few hours later when her mother came home from work. She heard noises downstairs – probably her mother making dinner – and woke up. She looked around her room for a comfy sweatshirt and her slippers and got out of bed. When she looked at her bedside table to check what time it was she saw the two letters sitting there. As soon as she saw the envelope with her name written on it, her entire day came rushing back in full force. Suddenly the numb feeling that had grown inside her throughout the week was pushed aside by an overwhelming need to read her letter. She needed to know why Taylor had done it. She needed her questions answered. She slowly made her way to her bed where she sat down and picked up the letter. Carefully she opened the envelope again and pulled out the letter. It was thick, as though it were a few pages long. She opened the pages to the first one and began to read.

_Gabs,_

_I'm sorry. That's the most important thing I need to tell you. You were always there for me and part of me wishes that I had the strength to go to you with this and tell you how I've been hurting so much for the past while, but I know that I won't. This is the easy way out. I know, I've never been one to take the easy way out since I'm always getting involved in more at school, or volunteering somewhere new, or doing extra homework but this is my one exception. Because honestly, I just can't take it anymore. I don't see how my life will ever feel good again. Despite the fact that I know you're always there for me, I just don't think that anyone can help. So I'm sorry that I'm doing this to you, leaving you all alone. I hope someday you'll understand. You're the strongest girl I've ever met. I know that you'll make it through okay and you have everyone else around you that will help you. But please remember that I never ever wanted to hurt you by doing this. I know it's super selfish of me to be doing this, but I can't stop myself now. _

_I remember the day I met you. You were sitting all by yourself in homeroom. You were just sitting there reading a book, and the second I saw you I thought to myself what is she reading? So I walked over and asked you. I knew from that first day that we were going to be good friends. I've never really had a friend like you before Gabs. You're more than just my best friend though – you're like my sister. I know that without you, I wouldn't have even made it this long. I mean, I would have missed out on so much of what I have now. I would still be a "nerd" to everyone else. I probably would have few if any friends. And I would never have met Chad. These things mean the most to me in this world. Without you and Chad, I would have nothing. You two gave me everything I ever wanted and ever needed. And he took it all away. It's like ever since that night, I can't stop obsessing over doing this, and letting go. Right, you don't know about that night. Well… remember a few months ago when we were all at Troy's house? It was the Christmas party he had. When you and Chad were heading home, you guys both offered to drive me home but I said no cause I would be fine walking since Troy didn't live far from me. I wish I had taken you up on that offer now. That one short walk changed my life. It destroyed what I had. It left me with nothing, all because of him…_

Gabriella read the next part of Taylor's letter in shock. Everything was beginning to make sense now. Why Taylor did it, well that was obvious. Gabriella understood now, but it didn't seem to make her feel any better. Gabriella knew she needed to finish reading the letter, so she continued.

_I just wanted you to understand why I did it. Out of everyone in the entire world, I was scared of leaving you. But I promise that I'll never really leave you. I'll always be right there where you are, only I'll stay in your heart. You're my best friend Brie. Don't ever forget that. Thank you for being everything that you were for me. You saved me time and time again, but after what happened… no one could save me. Please don't ever blame yourself for not being able to help me, don't ever think that it was in any way your fault. It truly was not. Thank you for everything you ever did for me. It meant the world to me. I love you so much girl, but I just can't take it anymore. _

_- Tay 3 _

Gabriella looked up from the letter in her hands. These were the answers that she was looking for. She knew why Taylor did it. At the end of the day, that was what mattered the most. Gabriella folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. She walked over to her desk and pulled open the bottom drawer. She picked up the picture she loved so much of her and Taylor and placed the letter underneath the picture. She closed the drawer again and walked back over to her bedside table where one other letter remained. She picked it up and shoved it into her oversized purse. She kicked off her slippers and found a comfy pair of shoes to replace them. She walked downstairs to the kitchen to find her mother.

"Mom?" Gabriella called out.

"In here, Ella!"

Gabriella walked over to the living room where she heard her mother's voice.

"I need to go to Chad's. I have to give him something."

"Dinner is on Ella," her mother started.

"I went to Taylor's house today. I got some stuff from her room and I found these letters. One was addressed to Chad. I have to give it to him. I might be back in time for dinner, but if not then I can eat later."

"Okay, go on over then. Don't be too late."

"Thanks mom. I'll see you later," Gabriella stated as she headed for the door.

Gabriella rushed outside and began the short walk to Chad's house. There wasn't much point in driving since he lived so close by. Gabriella was so lost in her own world she couldn't hear the cars driving past, the wind in the trees, or even the thumping of a basketball followed by two male voices. She began walking up Chad's driveway and came back to reality as she pressed the doorbell. A few minutes later Chad's mom opened the door.

"Hey Gabriella. How're you doing?" Mrs. Danforth asked gently.

"I'm okay. Is Chad here?" she questioned immediately.

"Yeah, Chad's playing ball out back. Troy's with him as well."

"Oh, right. Thanks so much Mrs. Danforth," Gabriella said.

Gabriella turned around and headed around the house to go meet the two boys. She heard the pounding of the basketball on the pavement as she headed around.

"Hey guys," she began fairly quietly.

"Hey Gabi!" answered Troy.

"Hey Gabster. What brings you to my humble home?" asked Chad.

"Well I sort of have something for you Chad. Two things actually."

"Yeah? What are these two things?" questioned Chad as he began to walk over.

"I went to Taylor's today," both boys froze as Gabriella said this. "Her mom wanted me to help with some of her stuff. But I was in her room and everything and I found some stuff that I thought you might want."

"Oh," Chad replied.

Gabriella reached into her pocket where she had put the ring before she came over to Chad's. She pulled it out and handed it to Chad.

"I thought that you might want it back," Gabriella said quietly.

"Thanks Brie." Chad said staring at the ring.

"There's one other thing. When I was going through her jewelry box I found these envelopes. There was one that had 'mom and dad' written on it and one that said 'Gabs'. There was also one that had your name on it."

Chad's head snapped up at Gabriella's final comment.

"Sh…She wrote me before she…?" Chad tried to get out.

"Yeah. I already read mine and it explained a lot. I think it will help you. But you don't need to read it now. Just when you're ready," Gabriella explained handing Chad's envelope to him.

"Thanks Gabriella," Chad took the envelope and walked over to his deck and sat down on the second step. He stared at the letter for a few minutes before he began to tear open the paper. Gabriella stood watching as Chad gathered his courage to read the final words that his girlfriend left for him. Gabriella felt Troy's arms snake around her waist from behind, quietly letting her know that he was there for her. Gabriella watched at Chad smiled reading his letter and then saw his forehead wrinkle as a frown appeared. After finishing his letter he put it back in the envelope and kept his head down. Gabriella noticed that his shoulders started to shake up and down slightly. She left Troy's arms and walked over to where Chad was and wrapped her arm around his body sideways as she sat next to him. Troy came and sat down on the other side of Gabriella. The three sat together like that for a few minutes as Chad cried with Gabriella's arms around him. He quickly got his tears and emotions under control once again and looked up at Gabriella.

"Did she explain it to you too?" Chad asked.

"Yes, it all made so much sense after I read it," Gabriella returned.

"I know. But I can't believe I didn't notice anything… there had to be signs of what had happened…" Chad thought aloud.

"I'm sure they were there, but you know how good Taylor is of convincing us of anything. We always believed her because she always seemed to have all the answers."

"I guess. She gave you a name though, she wouldn't tell me because she was afraid of what I would do if I got a name. Gabs, please tell me. I need to know because whoever it is I'm gonna…"

"No. Chad, think about what she wrote to you. She didn't give you the name for a reason. You have to respect that. I'll handle that part," Gabriella explained.

"You can't do it alone… I'll help you," Chad pleaded.

"I can do it alone and I will. It's what Taylor wanted." Gabriella said.

"Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Troy interrupted.

Chad and Gabriella let out a small laugh.

"Sorry man. Here, read this. It basically explains everything about what Taylor went through," Chad explained to a clueless Troy.

"Right," Troy said as he began reading.

"I should head home now though. My mom was just cooking dinner when I left and I told her that I wouldn't be too long," Gabriella said as she stood up.

"Okay babe. I'll call you later. Love you," Troy said looking up from the letter to give Gabriella a kiss.

"Love you too. Bye guys."

"See ya Gabster, and thanks," Chad added.

Gabriella smiled as she began to walk around the side of the house once again. She thought about her discussion with Chad about the letters. Although she knew why Taylor had done it and the few remaining pieces to the puzzle had been found Gabriella was more unsure than ever about what she needed to do now.

* * *

**Okay, I know that I left out part of the letter that Gabriella read, but that was the point... don't think that I screwed up that part, you'll understand later :)  
Again, thanks so much for reading, it means the world! 3 :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heyyyyyyy!! I'm back! Though I guess I was never really gone :P But here's another chapter for you guys. Hopefully it lives up to any expectations!! You guys are amazing just for reading my story!! I'm so happy that I have people who actually read this. :)  
I'm hoping that the story isn't moving too slow for you guys. That's about it for this week. So, Enjoy!**

* * *

Gabriella woke the next morning with dread filling her stomach. She knew that she had only two days left before she had to go back to school. She was so unsure how she was going to do that without Taylor. The thought left her feeling empty and unsure of the world. She could feel her body begin to tremble with thoughts of going back to her normal school routine without Taylor. She faintly heard her mom's voice, but it felt like she was hearing the world around her from under water. No sounds were quite clear; they all seemed to blend together. She felt her mom's hand on her, attempting to coax her out of the ball she was curled into in her bed. She buried her head into her pillow further trying to make herself come back to reality and calm down. She took a deep breath and managed to make out what her mother was saying.

"Gabriella! Ella, get up. Look at me, say something. Mija, do something!" her mother sounded frantic.

Gabriella tried once again to calm down and took another deep breath. Her mother was still sounding hysterical as she tried to get Gabriella to calm down. It wasn't working too well. Gabriella took another deep breath and thought about Troy as she began to feel herself relax a bit. She turned her head away from the pillow and took another deep breath. She could feel her body slowing down and the trembling begin to lessen. Finally, after a few more deep breaths she stopped. She turned over on her back and faced her mom.

"Oh Ella, what happened?" her mother asked.

Gabriella shook her head in response. She didn't want to talk about Taylor anymore. She didn't want to worry about going back to school without Taylor. She also knew that wouldn't be possible. She knew that she was going to keep worrying about going back to school, and how much different her life would be when she was back. But right now she didn't want to think about it anymore. Her mother seemed to recognize this and nodded.

"Okay Ella. I'm going to get you some water, and some breakfast. You should probably get something in you."

Gabriella nodded in thanks as she watched her mother walk out of her bedroom. At that moment she knew that today would be another tough day. Another day that would be good spent in bed. It was decided that today would be a day spent in bed because Gabriella had no other reason to get up out of bed. Not even Troy would be able to get her out of bed today.

Her mother returned a few minutes later with a glass of water in one hand and a warm cinnamon bun in the other. The aroma filtered through her room making her feel as though she just walked into a bakery.

"Here Ella, eat this. It will make you feel better," her mother said as she came over and handed her the cinnamon bun.

"Not hungry" was Gabriella's reply.

"It's still warm. I know that you love these."

"I'm not eating it."

"Gabriella, please just eat something. I know that this is an extremely hard time for you, but you need to remember to take care of yourself."

"You know that this is an extremely hard time for me? How could you know mom? Did your best friend kill herself? Did you have to rush over to her house only to have her die in your arms? No, I didn't think so. You couldn't possibly have any idea how hard this is for me. No one could understand," Gabriella finally exploded.

"You're right Ella. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you. I'll be downstairs if you need anything," her mother said quietly and placed the water and bun on the table next to her bed before quietly retreating.

She left Gabriella feeling angry and full of regret. She didn't mean to sound so harsh, but it was true. No one could understand what she was going through, not even her own mother.

She rolled over in bed once again so that she was lying on her stomach. She closed her eyes and quietly wished away the world in her head. Minutes later she found herself traveling to a completely different world in her dreams while she lay in bed sound asleep.

Hours later she found herself awake once again. She turned over on to her back and felt a tingling sensation in her arm. It wasn't always good to fall asleep on your stomach. Gabriella began to rub her arm that had fallen asleep. Her back was hurting from spending hours asleep on her stomach without moving. There was a constant dull pain flowing through her spine. She stood up to go get some pills to take for the pain in her bathroom.

On her way back she stubbed her toe on one of the drawers of her desk. The drawer that held her favorite picture and the letter from Taylor. She bent down to pick up the picture to look at it once again. Before she could even find the handle of the drawer she saw her hand shaking. She knew what was happening this time, but it still continued to travel through her body until she was sitting on the floor with her back pressed to the frame of her bed as her entire body trembled. It was out of fear, loneliness and sadness. She understood now that when these emotions flooded into her quickly – as they had earlier that morning when she woke up for the first time – she began to shake. She tried to calm herself down again, but it didn't seem to be working. With every deep breath she took she could now hear herself struggling to gain control of her body once again. With each breath she heard it frightened her more, making her quiver even more. She tried to think of Troy. Dear Troy, who promised to always be there for her when she needed him. The one who told her countless times that they would all make it through together. Yet where was he now when she needed him to calm her down? The thought of Troy not being with her at that moment – although how he would mysteriously appear in her bedroom didn't seem to matter – sent her emotions off even more. She felt the world around her begin to blur and mix together. It all seemed to spin around her, circling her small trembling body leaving her feel helpless. Her breathing began to quicken and she could feel beads of sweat beginning to collect along her forehead. She felt even more frightened. She wondered why she couldn't stop it like she had the previous time. Suddenly she felt her body begin to slide to her right. Her arms were paralyzed where they were resting around her legs which were drawn close to her body. She couldn't stop herself from sliding the rest of the way. It seemed to go in slow motion, and then finally she felt her right side hit the soft carpet as she continued to take quick shaky breaths. She tried to call out to her mom, but her voice seemed to get caught in her throat. She closed her eyes and told herself to calm down. Easier said than done. She tried to focus on everything her body was going through in order to figure out a way to stop it. It felt like the world around her had come to a stop but she was stuck in the normal world, shaking uncontrollably. She tried to even her breathing, which in turn only made it feel worse. Her chest began to ache and the air seemed to feel almost stale as it entered Gabriella's body small amounts at a time. She felt one small bead of sweat graze down the side of her face. She still couldn't more her arms from around her legs, no matter how hard she tried. And then she heard it. It sounded like a person, though male or female she couldn't make out who. Suddenly she felt two arms prying her arms away from her legs and she was being pushed up to a sitting position again. She was afraid to open her eyes, in fear of what would come next. She tried to focus on her breathing again and told herself to calm down once again. Then suddenly as quickly as it went, the world seemed to be back at full speed again. She could hear all the regular noises – cars going down the street, her neighbors enjoying their pool – and the voice. His voice. Her eyes shot open when she heard him speak again. There, staring right back at her was a pair of crystal blue eyes filled with worry.

"Gabi, it's okay," he said.

She heard those words in her head over and over again. He continued to whisper comforting words to her as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to get the shaking to stop. She told herself in her head that it really was okay, Troy was there. He had come for her. Slowly, she found her breathing beginning to slow down and begin to go back to normal again. She closed her eyes again for a moment while coaxing herself out of her current state. She focused on his warm arms around her and buried her head into his shoulder. Somehow she found her arms and wrapped them around his neck tightly. After a few more minutes she finally felt as though she had made it back to normal. Troy pulled away from her slowly, and she reluctantly let go.

"Are you okay baby?" he whispered.

Gabriella remained silent for a minute watching him as he sat awaiting her response. "I think so. Thank you Troy."

"I'm just glad you're okay. You had me really freaked out there,"

"It's okay. It happened this morning too, only not that bad. It scared me," Gabriella explained to Troy. Her eyes began to get bigger the way they did when she was about to cry.

"Oh sweetie it's okay. You're okay now. I told you I'd always be here for you"

"How did you know though? How did you just happen to come in at the perfect time?" Gabriella pondered.

"I've been here for a while. I came over earlier because I thought we could do something today. When I got here your mom said that you were asleep. We talked for a little while and finally she said that it was probably about time that you should get up. I told her that I would go wake you up if it was okay," Troy explained as he leaned forward and wrapped Gabriella in his arms once again.

Gabriella nodded and said, "Thanks," quietly in response.

"Come on I think it's about time that you had something to eat now," Troy stated as he sat up again and helped Gabriella up.

Together they went downstairs and walked into Gabriella's kitchen. Her mom walked in from the living room and noticed them poking around the kitchen.

"Can I make you guys something to eat?" she asked.

"Can you make quesadillas mom?" Gabriella returned.

"Sure, just give me a few to get them put together and cooked. You two can go hang out and do whatever."

"Thanks Ana," Troy answered.

Gabriella stood up and began walking back upstairs.

"Gabi, where are you going?" Troy questioned.

"To my room. I just want to lie down. I don't want to do anything other than lie in bed."

"Come on Brie, we should go outside. It's a great day," Troy attempted to coax her despite knowing that they would both end up in Gabriella's room.

"I don't want to Troy. You can go outside if you like, but I'm going up to my room," Gabriella said.

Troy merely nodded and began following Gabriella up to her room. He watched Gabriella climb into her queen size bed and pull the covers over her baby-tee and boxer short pajamas. Troy pulled her desk chair over to the side of her bed and sat down next to her. The two sat silently for a few minutes while Troy brushed Gabriella's hair out of her face.

"What's it going to be like without Taylor there Troy?" Gabriella finally broke the silence.

"What do you mean Gabi?"

"I mean school. What's it going to be like walking through the hallways without her, eating lunch in the café without her there, going to my locker and looking beside me to see an unopened locker where she'll never meet me again."

"I don't really know Brie. We'll just have to wait and find out. I know that it will be hard for all of us, mostly you, for the first few days but I think we'll get used to it. We'll all accept it in our own time. But you know that anytime you need me, I'll be there. You just give me the word and I'll be there for you."

"Not necessarily. When we go back to school after Spring Break, you're gonna have basketball practice. You can't skip out on practice, captain," Gabriella spoke softly.

"Gabi, my dad will understand if I have to miss out on practice if you need me. Plus I can always practice at my house after. And hey, maybe I can even arrange for you to stay after school in the gym and that way I'll be right there if you need me. We'll work it out, I promise."

Gabriella felt uneasy about the whole situation still, but tried to stay positive the way Troy was.

There was a knock at Gabriella's door, and her mother walked in with two white plates in hand. She came over and handed one to Gabriella in her bed, and one to Troy.

"Your quesadillas are served. Just shout if you two need anything else. Though I might pop out in a little while to do some grocery shopping," Mrs. Montez explained.

"Thanks a whole lot Ana," Troy said just before stuffing his mouth full of food.

Ana gave a small chuckle at Troy before leaving the two in Gabriella's room together.

The rest of the day was spent quietly for Gabriella and Troy. Looking back, it was one of the more forgettable days they had shared together. But for Gabriella, it was all she needed. She just needed to know that Troy would be there for her in case something came up. Troy looked through Gabriella's glass French doors that led to her balcony and saw the neighbors. They had one girl who was a few years younger then them. She seemed to have friends over, and they were all splashing and laughing in her pool. Troy couldn't help but wonder inside what it would take for his group to get back to that. The entire group hadn't even seen each other once since Taylor's death. It was too much for them, too much mostly for Gabriella. They all feared that if they all got together and there was no Taylor that it would seem all too real for the group. They would really begin to accept the fact that Taylor was gone, and she wasn't going to pop up one day screaming "Gotcha!". Though no one wanted to admit it, the fact was that Taylor was gone. Troy figured that it would hit them all pretty hard on their first day back to school.

When five o'clock came around Troy stood up and went to Gabriella's bed. He sat gingerly on the edge trying not to disturb Gabriella from the world she seemed so lost in yet again. She looked over to Troy with a blank stare covering her face. Troy wished desperately that he would be able to see Gabriella smile the way she used to, but knew that reality was far too cruel for that right now.

"I should probably be heading home now Gabi," Troy said quietly.

"Okay, thanks for coming Troy. Do you want me to walk you downstairs?"

"No, no that's fine. You just stay here and stay comfortable. I'll call you tomorrow though okay? Maybe we can hang out with Chad too."

"Okay. Talk to you tomorrow then," said Gabriella looking relieved that she didn't have to get out of her bed.

"Love you Gabi," Troy whispered.

"Love you too Troy," she replied.

Troy stood up and kissed her forehead gently before walking to her door. He paused and turned around to send one last smile Gabriella's way before heading home for the night.

Sunday morning was not much different for Gabriella. Although she didn't have another panic attack the way she had the previous morning. She laid in bed for a few hours before finally deciding that she needed to get up and have a shower. The heat of the water felt good against Gabriella's skin. She turned the water up as hot as she could stand it. It was like she was attempting to wash away her pain in the shower. Finally she turned the water off and stepped out. She walked into her closet after drying herself off and wrapping the towel around her hair. She began flipping through hangers trying to find something suitable to wear. Eventually she picked out a black track suit with a pink t-shirt. Not the cutest outfit she owned, but Gabriella wasn't looking for cute. She was just pulling her sweatshirt over her tee when her phone began to ring. She walked over to her purse and began digging through, finally locating her phone.

"Hello?" she asked not bothering to check her caller I.D.

"Hey Brie, it's Chad. What are you up to?"

"Nothing really. I just had a shower."

"Cool… well Troy and I were wondering if you wanted to head over to Troy's. We can just hang out today. We were thinking about heading over to the park at some point too," Chad explained.

"Well… I guess I could come over. I'll meet you guys at Troy's in a bit then."

"Sounds good, see you soon Gabs."

"See you Chad," Gabriella said hanging up the phone.

Gabriella grabbed her purse once again and began to walk out of her room. She made her way down the creaking steps to find her mother in their kitchen.

"I'm gonna go out to Troy's with he and Chad for a while," Gabriella told her mother.

"Okay Ella. Call me if you're not coming home for dinner. But don't be out too late, cause remember it's Sunday…,"

Gabriella knew what her mother was trying to say. She was trying to remind Gabriella that she would have to go back to school tomorrow in a gentle way. Although no matter how you put it, there was no way to make it seem easier to go back to school tomorrow.

"I know. I don't think I'll be out too late. Talk to you later mom," Gabriella said as she made her way to the door.

"Okay, have a good time."

Gabriella made her way over to her car because she didn't feel like walking all the way to Troy's house. She drove to Troy's house with the radio on her favorite station. She tried to focus her attention on the music so that she didn't have to worry about going to school again the following day. Her stomach tensed up as soon as she thought about school. There were so many questions still circling through her mind that she was trying so hard not to think about. When she got to Troy's house she pulled up next to the curb and got out of her car. She heard the familiar thumping coming from the backyard and instantly knew where to find the boys. She made her way to Troy's backyard where the two boys were playing basketball (of course).

"Hey," Gabriella started.

"Oh, hey Gabs. We should stop playing now Troy," Chad said.

"You're only saying that because I'm kicking your ass," Troy responded with a chuckle.

"No I'm not. Gabriella is here now; she'll be bored if we keep playing. Plus you know that I'm capable of kicking your ass any day."

"Whatever you say Chad," Troy said with a small smile as he made his way to Gabriella. He began to wrap his arm around her when she backed up.

"How long have you guys been playing? You seriously need a shower."

"Oh fine, don't give me a hug. Come on Chad, you take the downstairs shower, I'll go upstairs. We'll be back in five Gabi," Troy said before shooting Gabriella one of his famous smiles.

Gabriella followed the boys into the house and headed for the family room. She turned on the T.V. and began flipping through channels before finally settling on MTV which was playing _The Hills_.

True to his word, Troy returned merely a few minutes after making his way upstairs. His hair was still wet, and he was wearing only a pair of basketball shorts, showing off his perfectly chiseled abs. He made his way over to where Gabriella was sitting on the couch. Just before taking a seat next to her, he paused and promptly began to shake his head letting the water from his hair fly all over Gabriella.

"Troy!"

"Oh sorry, did I get you wet?" Troy said sarcastically.

"Whatever."

"Woah, Brie. I was just trying to make you smile," Troy explained.

Gabriella took a deep breath. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed about going back to school tomorrow. I don't want to face everyone."

"It'll be okay. All you have to do is text me and I'll get out of class. Plus you've got all of us at lunch. Chad and I will help you out, so don't worry about it anymore okay?"

"Chad will help out with what?" Chad asked as he came back up the stairs.

"The first day back to school. Gabi is worried about going back," Troy explained.

"Oh man, me too. I mean what's it going to be like without her there? It's going to feel so different," Chad replied.

"I don't want to have to deal with people trying to act like my friend and act all sorry for me either," Gabriella admitted.

"Gabi, I don't think anyone knows yet. I mean unless you've told people because Chad and I haven't told anyone about it. So how could they know right?" Troy asked.

"That's true. But it will get out. I mean I'm sure people will wonder where she is when she sees the three of us together and Tay not there."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right Gabs, but we'll deal with that together once it comes," Chad said.

"Yeah. Anyways, let's go do something else instead of being all depressed around here," Troy proposed.

"Okay, why don't we go to the park. There's always something to do there," Chad said.

The three friends got up to go to the park. They walked since it was fairly close to Troy's house. They spent the afternoon fooling around on the playground and watching the water in the lake. They even ended up walking through the forest together.

A few hours later, Gabriella finally looked at the time and realized it was getting close to 6.

"I should head out guys, my mom wanted me home for dinner," she stated.

"Okay, I should probably be heading back too," Troy replied.

"Yeah, same," Chad added.

The three headed back toward Troy's house in silence. All were lost in their own thoughts about how they would manage to tackle the following day. All three came up with the same conclusion that the only way they were going to be able to make it through the day was if the had each other.

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**Let me know what you guys think! (If you feel like it lol)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Everyone! Sorry I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday... I was at school all day then work all night. Boring! Anyways, here's the next chapter, hope it goes over well! :) -- Kay**

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Gabriella was walking down the hallways of East High alone. There were many people standing with their friends, getting books out of lockers, or on their way to their classes with others surrounding them all reminding Gabriella of the loss of her best friend. The worst part was that everyone somehow seemed to know about it too. When she walked into school she immediately saw many pairs of eyes on her. She looked around to find that every one of them was trying to convey that they felt bad for her. They were all pity looks that she loathed and was dreading seeing. She kept her head down as she walked through the hallways to get to her locker. Even with her head down, she could feel everyone looking at her. She felt angry that they all felt bad for her. How did they find out anyways? She didn't tell anyone… so it must have been one of the guys. Didn't they both say that neither of them told anyone? Gabriella wondered how any of this made sense as she began to spin her lock to open her locker. After a few tries, she finally opened her locker and shoved her backpack in her locker. She saw a blonde step up to a locker a few feet away from her. Gabriella turned her head and saw that it was the ruler of the senior class. She was known as the ice queen, and had never been nice to Taylor or her as long as Gabriella had known her. And now this ice queen was giving her the look. This was the last straw for Gabriella, and she hadn't even made it to homeroom yet. She slammed her locker shut with a bang, drawing more eyes to her, and stormed off to the girls' bathroom.

She was relieved to see that it was empty. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. The same questioned seemed to circle through her mind, which continued to anger her because she continued to have no answers. She looked at herself in the mirror. Suddenly she heard one of the stall doors behind her click open and her eyes widened as she turned around to see who was in there with her. The door swung open and Gabriella nearly fell to the floor. She caught herself on the edge of the sink and blinked once, then again, hoping to make the image of Taylor disappear.

"What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked still in shock.

"Um… going to the bathroom," Taylor answered.

"I'm serious Taylor. What the hell is going on? First you're in my room, now you're here with me at school?"

"Chill hun, I told you that I'd always watch out for you," Taylor stated as she walked over to the sink to wash her hands.

"But how can I see you? I mean seriously… this is just weird. Can everyone see you if you're watching out for them?" Gabriella asked incredulously.

"No. That's something that I realized after I died. You're the only one who can see me. And I don't know how long you'll be able to see me. It doesn't always happen. I think it only happens when you need me to be there for you the most."

"But when I was having those stupid panic attacks on the weekend, where were you?"

"It has to be subconscious. At least that's what I think. You have to need me to be there for you subconsciously," Taylor explained.

"Oh. Well I'm going to look like I'm crazy if someone sees me talking to you and they can't see you. Maybe I am crazy. I mean you died… how can I see someone who's dead? I must be going crazy," Gabriella reasoned.

"Gabs, you aren't going crazy. It's only with you that I can do this. It's like we have some crazy connection. It's nice though, because I at least have some sort of a connection to the world I used to be a part of."

"I just don't understand how this is happening, but I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as I have the chance to talk to you, and have you back in my life," Gabriella decided.

"Yeah. And don't worry about everyone at school. They'll back down soon, but it's new news to them and most of them really do feel sorry about it."

"I guess. I just got really pissed when Sharpay looked at me and gave me that 'sorry for your loss' look. I hate that look in general, but she's never been nice to either of us. Why would she start now you know?" Gabriella said.

"I know, I get why you're upset. But there is something behind that look that Sharpay is giving you that is more than just pity. I think you'd be surprised." Taylor answered.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked, just as she heard voices outside the bathroom.

"I have to go, so you don't look crazy, and by the way I know that you've been trying to figure out what to do to you-know-who, but please don't do anything. You don't know what he's capable of. That's why I didn't tell Chad. Please just put it to rest," Taylor said with a smile. "But think about what I said," she added. With that she walked right out of the girls' bathroom and out of Gabriella's life once again.

Gabriella sighed once before deciding that she had to face everyone sooner or later. She walked out of the bathroom, as three girls walked in completely ignoring her.

Gabriella opened her eyes and looked around where she was. She felt confused until she finally realized that she was in her room. She looked at the clock next to her and saw that it was only 3:48 in the morning. She still had quite a few hours to sleep before she had to get up and go to school. The whole conversation with Taylor really hadn't happened. At least she knew that she wasn't going crazy. It was a dream again. Again. Maybe that was it. Maybe she could talk to Taylor in her dream because Taylor was always with her, but wasn't really here anymore. Gabriella closed her eyes willing herself to go back to sleep so she didn't have to think about school. She was still dreading going back without Taylor, despite what Taylor said. Finally after what seemed like an hour of tossing and turning, Gabriella fell asleep again.

Hours later, Gabriella's mother slammed her hand down on the alarm clock next to her bed. Another early morning. She reminded herself that she needed to wake her daughter so Gabriella could get ready for school. She flipped the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Rustling her hair she stepped into the hallway to make her way to Gabriella's bedroom. She took a look at her daughters sleeping figure and nearly turned around and let her sleep some more. She took a deep breath and entered the room and made her way over to Gabriella. She gently shook her daughter awake for a minute before she heard a muffled grumble.

"I'm not getting up. I don't want to go to school," Gabriella said.

"Oh, Ella, you're going to have to go at some point. It's not going to do you any good to keep putting it off," her mother said.

"Yes it will, eventually people will forget about it. I just really don't want to go today."

"Gabriella, your classmates don't even know about it yet. Show them how strong you are. You'll have Troy and Chad there for you too."

"Please mom, I don't want to go today. I had a really bad sleep too. Can I please just sleep some more now? What if I go in at lunch?" Gabriella asked.

"Mija, you have to go to school. Hurry now, or you'll be late," her mother said.

Gabriella just rolled on to her side turning away from her mother. Her mother sighed and got up, walking out of Gabriella's room. She walked downstairs where she started making breakfast for the two of them and some sort of a lunch for Gabriella. After a few minutes she still didn't hear any noise from the floor above telling her that Gabriella had gotten up, so she picked up the phone for her last resort. She dialed the number and heard it ring twice before a familiar voice picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" it said.

"Troy?" Gabriella's mother responded.

The two continued the conversation for a few minutes before each hung up. Gabriella's mom made her way upstairs to get changed for her day at work. She was grateful that she had chosen to have a shower the night before so she didn't have one more thing to do this morning. She pulled on her expensive navy blue and white skirt suit over her silk shirt. She picked out a comfortable and stylish shoe to go with her outfit. She was just making her way back down the stairs when she heard the doorbell ring. She walked over, unlocked the door and revealed Troy.

"Hey Troy, thanks for coming over so early," Mrs. Montez said.

"It's no problem. Is she okay?" Troy asked.

"I think she's fine, she just refuses to get out of bed and go to school," Gabriella's mom explained.

"I don't know if there's much I can do for that, but I can give it a shot," Troy said.

"Thanks Troy. I don't know what either of us would do without you," Mrs. Montez said with a laugh.

Troy nodded and began going upstairs to Gabriella's room. He didn't even bother to knock on her door anymore before he walked in. He thought about how strange this might seem to other couples while Gabriella's mom was home. So many parents these days were so adamant about not allowing their children's boyfriends or girlfriends into their rooms, or if they did the door had to be left open, things like that. With Troy and Gabriella things were different. Their parents didn't care if they were in a bedroom together, even if they weren't home alone. Gabriella's mom knew she had raised her daughter well, and that she would make responsible decisions for herself. Troy's parents had similar views on his actions. They thought that he was old enough to make responsible choices himself. They had also taught him that he had to handle and consequences that came with those decisions. Their parents were all especially understanding now that Gabriella needed all the strength she could get around her.

Troy saw Gabriella's tiny figure wrapped in blankets in her bed. He walked over to the bed quietly before laying down next to her on top of the covers. He saw her stir a little bit, which meant that she was awake but didn't want anyone to know. She was facing away from him so he carefully leaned over her delicate body and brushed away some loose hair that had fallen over her face.

"Hey there beautiful," he said quietly. Normally this would stir a small but significant smile on her face. Troy stared at her face, convinced that she was going to smile like always for a minute before realizing that it wasn't going to happen. The things that Gabriella normally liked or appreciated just weren't important anymore. It was so difficult to make her smile these days, and she was normally the one who couldn't be seen without a smile on her face. She was impossible to read, and even harder to help because of it. Troy was at a loss these days, struggling to do anything that helped his girlfriend or made her feel better. He looked down at her again hoping to see some sort of physical change in her to let him know that maybe she was just acting, maybe she was smiling now only this time all he saw were tears running down her face.

"Oh Gabi, come here," he said. He gently turned her body over so that she was facing him and he wrapped his arms around her. He knew there was nothing that he could say that could make her feel better at this point, so he just let her cry in his arms. At least he could still do that.

"I can't do it Troy," she finally said after a few moments, her breath still shaky.

"I'm not saying that it's gonna be easy, or that you'll know exactly what to do, but you can do it. That, I am sure of. You are so much stronger than you think you are Gabi. Although this time, you don't need to be so strong, because you can rely on me and even Chad. Anytime you need one of us you just let us know and we'll be there."

"But how am I going to be able to handle going back without her? All I'm going to think about is the memories that are locked inside that building with her. Especially when I know that I can't make any more memories with her."

"I can't answer these questions Gabi. I don't know the answer to them either, but you're never going to get an answer if you don't go back," Troy responded.

Gabriella took a moment to think about what Troy said and buried her head into his chest even more. Finally she looked up at him and said, "Okay."

"Good now, you get up, go have a quick shower, and I'll make sure that you have everything you need. Plus, your mom already made you breakfast," Troy answered with a smile.

"Thanks Troy," Gabriella said. She gave him a hug before going off to take a shower.

After she went to her bathroom, Troy headed downstairs to tell Ana. He bounded down the stairs and saw Ana finishing putting things together for Gabriella's lunch.

Ana heard a noise coming from upstairs and realized that it was the shower. Which meant that Gabriella had to be in the shower. She heard someone else coming downstairs and turned around to see Troy standing in the kitchen with a slight smile on his face.

"How did you get her to get up?" Ana asked amazed.

"I'm not really sure actually. I just told her that Chad and I would be there, and that if she never went back she would never be able to figure out how to do anything without Taylor. Somehow it seemed to work though," Troy said happily.

"Well thank you very much Troy. I made some toast with cinnamon and sugar on it for her, um… there's her lunch on the counter if she doesn't want it then just tell her to put it in the fridge before you two leave. And here's a note for her teachers. It basically tells them what happened and asks them to take it easy on her for a while," Ana explained.

"Okay, great. And I'll do my best to get her to school on time," Troy said.

"Wonderful. Well I'm going to be late for work, so if it's okay with you I'm going to head out now. You think you'll be okay?" Ana asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I think it will be just fine now. Have a good day Ana. And don't worry about her too much; she'll be fine. Plus I talked to my dad this morning and he said that she can stay after school in the gym with us and watch practice."

"Oh, that's so nice. Thank your dad for me okay? I appreciate all the help that I've been getting from you guys."

"It's no problem. We want to see her okay too," Troy responded.

"I know," Ana said. "Anyways, thanks again, I'll see you later Troy. Have a good day."

"I will, now go before you're even later," Troy ushered her out of the house.

After Gabriella's mom left, Troy made his way upstairs to check on Gabriella. Once again he didn't knock before entering Gabriella's room. He heard the shower turn off while he was still downstairs talking to Ana, but he didn't see her in her room. He walked into the closet to see if she was in there trying to find something to wear. He pushed open the door and sure enough there was Gabriella standing there on her tip-toes searching through the top rack wearing nothing but her red bra and red panties. Troy had to resist the urge to walk over and wrap his arms around her, caressing her soft skin and carrying her back to the bedroom. Instead he subtly, but obviously cleared his throat to let her know that he was there.

"Oh, hi Troy. I have no idea what to wear today. I can't decide on anything."

Gabriella said as she looked like she was about to cry again.

"Well… uh… what about your um… dark skinny jeans?" Troy said trying to keep his eyes on Gabriella's clothes and not her body.

"Okay. What top do you think? I want something comfortable," Gabriella explained.

"Okay well what about this? Your favorite blue Abercrombie tee and you can wear my Wildcats sweatshirt so that you can have a little part of me with you all day."

"Yeah, that would be good," Gabriella replied pulling her jeans over her slim legs.

"Okay well… I'll meet you downstairs then," Troy said rushing out of Gabriella's bedroom to make his way downstairs again. After a few minutes he finally heard Gabriella's feet making her way down the stairs.

"Hey gorgeous, almost ready?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, I just have to grab the lunch my mom left out, I'm not really hungry though."

"Oh, and your mom left this note to you. It's just for you to give to your teachers to tell them to give you a break if you seem kind of distracted. Just so they'll understand a bit better," Troy explained as Gabriella stuffed her lunch into her backpack.

"Oh, okay thanks."

"Alright, we better head out now, before we're late," Troy said.

"Maybe we could just stay here for the morning… we can head in at lunch?" Gabriella tried one last time.

"Oh Gabi, come on babe. I'll be right there with you. Remember what we talked about okay? Just remember," Troy reminded.

As Troy explained to Gabriella about remembering what he was telling her earlier that morning, she remembered about her dream as well. Taylor was there, she was in the bathroom with Gabriella. Taylor said that most people really did feel sorry about it, and that they would back down after a while. She had to rough it out for the first while, and then things would back down. She would go to school today for Troy, her mother, Chad, Taylor and for herself.

"Okay, let's go," Gabriella said as she began to head out of the house.

They both climbed into Troy's truck and made their way over to the school together. The ride over was fairly quiet, neither of them saying much. All Gabriella needed was to know that Troy would be there for her throughout the day if she needed him. Finally, after a few minutes Troy pulled into the parking lot and put the truck in park. They both sat in the truck for a few minutes watching a few people pull into the lot and make their way into the school. Finally Troy turned to Gabriella.

"You ready?" he asked.

"I guess as ready as I'll ever be," she responded.

The two got out of the truck and came around and met each other at the front. Troy reached for Gabriella's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He felt her squeeze tightly in return.

"I'm here, it's okay," Troy whispered in her ear.

"I know. I wouldn't be able to do this otherwise," Gabriella responded.

Troy paused just before they walked through the doors of the school and turned to Gabriella. He pulled her close to him and kissed her with as much passion as he had in him.

"Just to keep you going through the day," Troy said with a smile after he pulled back.

"Well that was unexpected. But I guess I haven't done that much lately. I'm sorry. I've been such a drag, not at all the girlfriend you deserve," Gabriella said on the verge of tears once again.

"Hey, no one thinks that. Don't be so hard on yourself. You've been every bit of the girlfriend that I need, much less deserve. I love you Gabi, nothing is going to change that," Troy said cupping the side of Gabriella's face with his hand.

"I love you too Troy. Thank you for helping me through this so much. It means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about. That's what I'm for. I'll always come running when you call," Troy said with a smile.

Gabriella gave him a small smile in return and turned to face the school once again. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, I guess it's about time," Troy concluded.

The two linked hands once again as Troy held open the door for Gabriella. They walked through the doors and began towards the hallway that had their lockers. Gabriella was frantically looking around, searching for anyone who would give her the look. She knew that only she, Troy and Chad knew about Taylor's death and still she was scared to see anyone who showed that they felt sorry for her so she focused on the green tile floor she was walking on. As she and Troy turned the corner to make their way down the hallway to their lockers, Gabriella finally raised her head. She looked to Troy once again for support and he smiled down at her.

"Gabs! Troy! Thank God you're here! I don't know how it happened, I mean there was no way that it was possible… it just doesn't make sense. How has this happened?" Chad said frantically and panicked as soon as the couple reached their lockers.


	8. Chapter 8

**So I've been having a rough few weeks. It's been really hard to write lately. I'm hoping that the chapters won't slow down, and that I will still be able to post one every week, but I'm getting a bit worried. I'm trying to get past this block. It's not really writers block, but I guess in a way it is. Hopefully I'll be back on track quickly.  
But I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed at first that I have not had any reviews for the past two chapters. It made me wonder whether or not people are actually liking the story, but then I see that there are still people reading it, and that makes it just as good. I'm so happy to notice that people are actually taking the time to read my stuff. Thanks to everyone who reads my stories :) I know many people don't bother to read the author note but I wanted to say thanks somewhere. Hope you guys like this one!! :) -- Kay**

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"Chad what are you talking about?" Troy asked also sending him a glare attempting to tell him to calm down because Gabriella was already nervous enough to be at school again.

"Right uh, well, everyone somehow seems to know," Chad said somewhat calmly.

"What are you talking about? Everyone seems to know about what?" Troy asked perplexed.

Gabriella's head shot up at the realization of what Chad was saying. She starred at Chad waiting for him to start laughing, telling them he was kidding and only trying to cheer them up on the first day back. She kept staring at him until he finally turned towards her and nodded.

"I don't know how they found out. We never told anyone, so I have no idea," Chad said to Gabriella, confirming her suspicions.

"How do you know that they know?" Gabriella asked cautiously.

"A few people came up to me this morning, mostly guys from the team saying that they were sorry and hoped that I would still be coming out this afternoon for practice," Chad replied.

"I knew it. I knew this was gonna happen. I just don't know how," Gabriella said more to herself than the guys.

"Will someone please fill me in on what everyone seems to know about?" Troy asked sceptically.

Chad motioned for Troy to lean in close. "They know about Taylor. They know she's gone."

Troy's eyes grew wide with the realization. The first thing he thought about was Gabriella and how she was going to take it. He looked down to Gabriella and found that her eyes were either cast on the ground or darting around the hallways.

"Do they know how it happened?" Gabriella asked Chad suddenly.

"I don't think so, no one has said anything to me at least."

"Good. I think we should keep it that way if we can for as long as we can. You guys okay with that?" Gabriella wondered.

"Yeah I think that's a good idea too," Chad agreed.

"I'm down. It seems like the best thing to do," Troy said.

"So what do we do from here, about everyone knowing I mean?" Chad questioned.

"I guess we'll have to try to lay low. Be polite but talk about her as least as possible. Don't answer too many questions, because the last thing I want is for gossip to start going around about her. She doesn't deserve any of that," Gabriella said.

"Smart thinking Gabi," Troy said giving her hand a squeeze again.

Chad nodded in response and the three began to head toward their lockers once again. They all opened them and got out all the books the needed for the morning. Gabriella stared at a picture of Troy, Chad, Taylor and herself from New Years Eve. That was a good night. She let her mind float back to that night, when there didn't seem to be anything wrong in the world, and no one had any cares except whether or not there was enough food.

"Gabriella?" a small girl that Gabriella knew from her AP math class interrupted her thoughts.

"Hi Tammy," Gabriella replied, knowing what was coming next.

"I heard about Taylor. I'm really sorry about it; I know you two were close."

"Thanks, we were," Gabriella said feeling uncomfortable already.

Tammy gave her another smile before heading off in the direction of her own homeroom. Gabriella turned to her locker and slammed it shut. She turned around towards the guys and saw two other girls a year younger than her giving her the dreaded look. In an instant Gabriella knew it was going to be a very long, hard day.

At lunch Gabriella made her way to her locker to drop off her books, grab her lunch and her iPod. She figured that the only thing that would get her through the day was her iPod. She felt a familiar pair of arms circle her waist just as she was closing the locker.

"Hey Troy," Gabriella greeted as he kissed her shoulder.

"Hey you. You ready for lunch?"

"I don't really feel like I can handle the lunchroom today," Gabriella said honestly. "I was thinking that I was just gonna sit outside or maybe on the rooftop and eat there today."

"That's what I figured. So I told Chad to meet us by my truck. We're going out."

"Where are we going?" Gabriella wondered aloud.

"Anywhere. I know that you don't want to be here, and I'm pretty sure that Chad is sick of everyone here talking about her too. We just thought that this would be better," Troy insists.

"Okay, well we can head back to my house since it's the closest," Gabriella said.

"Sounds good. But we do have to come back for the afternoon," Troy said already jumping to what Gabriella was thinking of suggesting.

"Yeah…" Gabriella replied somewhat distantly.

The two linked hands and began to walk out of the school doors to meet Chad in the parking lot. Troy held the door open as Gabriella walked out into the fresh air. It was still a bit cool out, but warm enough that she didn't get chills with Troy's sweatshirt on. They made their way over to Troy's truck where Chad was already waiting.

"Hurry up guys, I can't wait to get out of this fucking hell hole," Chad said.

"Bad morning then?" Troy inquired.

"You have no idea. It was like everywhere I went all I thought about was Tay. And the second I thought about something else, another person would come up to me to tell me how sorry they were. But it's complete bullshit. More than half the people that said something to me about it didn't even know her," Chad ranted on.

"It was the same thing for me. It started first thing this morning at my locker, and I kept seeing people eyeing me with that stupid look like they feel bad for me. It made me want to scream, because as Chad said none of them even knew her," Gabriella added as she began to get into the back of Troy's truck since she was the smallest.

"Well at least we're getting out of there for the hour of lunch," Troy said trying to say something to make the two closest people to him feel somewhat better.

"Yeah. Where are we going anyways?" Chad pondered.

"To Brie's since it's the closest," Troy said, pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards Gabriella's house.

"I think the worst part of the day was when I had to give the teachers the note that my mom wrote for me. I have one for every teacher so they all know what's going on, but they all give me the same look and tell me the same things. 'It's so tragic. I'm so sorry for your loss Gabriella. Taylor was such a bright student, she'll definitely be missed by many'… blah, blah, blah. I'm so sick of it all, and I haven't even made it through the first day!" Gabriella complained.

"Yeah…" was all Troy could think to say.

The three remained silent until Troy pulled into Gabriella's driveway. They all hoped out of the truck and walked up to Gabriella's front door. When they made their way inside Gabriella headed straight for her bedroom then stopped herself, thinking that she needed to figure out a way to stay strong without running to her bed all the time. So she turned and headed into the living room.

"You guys just wanna watch some T.V. while we eat here?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah that sounds good," Troy answered.

"Sure, Gabs can I grab a drink though?" Chad asked.

"Yeah there's probably something in the fridge."

"Cool," Chad said as he got up and went into the kitchen.

Troy came and stood next to Gabriella, wrapping his arms around her waist. Gabriella stood on her tippy-toes as she returned the gesture by circling her arms around Troy's neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't make going back any easier for you," Troy said into the top of Gabriella's hair.

"It's nothing that you could have done," Gabriella said. "It's just so hard to be there without her in the first place but then with everyone bringing her up… it seems impossible," she added tearing up.

"Oh Gabi, I wish there was something I could do. But I still stand on what I told you earlier, if you ever need me all you have to do is let me know and I'll be there," Troy said attempting to comfort her.

"I know," Gabriella replied quietly. She looked into Troy's crystal blue eyes and could tell that he really meant what he said. Troy leaned down and gently placed his lips on hers briefly before being interrupted.

"Gab, I hope you don't mind, but I ate one of those powdered doughnuts on the counter too," Chad said tentatively.

"I don't care. I haven't had much of an appetite recently anyways."

Chad nodded in response and sat down on one of the chairs in the room while the other two took a seat on the couch across from him.

"Gab, have you heard anything from Tay's parents about the funeral?" Chad questions, trying to keep the mood as light as possible.

"I think my mom was talking to them last night, but I don't know the details."

"Okay, well when you find out let me know kay?" Chad said.

"Me too," Troy adds.

"Okay I will," Gabriella says to the two boys.

The three sat in Gabriella's living room and ate their lunch while talking a little bit more and watching T.V. Finally the three of them sensed that they needed to get back to the school or they were going to be late. Gabriella stood up and tossed the garbage in the garbage can while Troy turned off the T.V.

"Maybe we could just chill here for the afternoon and then go back to the school for practice once everyone is gone…" Chad said lightly.

"You're getting as bad as Brie now man. We have to go and you know it. It's not going to get any better if we don't go. People will just feel worse because they'll know why we aren't there. If we go and show them that we're dealing with it and that we're strong we'll get over all these stupid people and their comments sooner." Troy answered.

"I guess that's true. Let's head out then," Chad said.

The three made their way back to the school and got to their respective classes just in time. Troy and Chad were sitting in English together, while Gabriella had History.

Gabriella made her way to her desk quietly and kept her head low trying to send a message to people to let her be. She was grateful that her teacher (Mr. Witmer who was known as the coolest teacher in the school) gave a short lecture then told them they could have the rest of the period to study or find some other productive work to work on because he was busy grading essays. Gabriella pulled out her iPod right away and stuck the ear buds in her ears to drown out the rest of the world. She wasn't in the mood to do much work, so she just pulled out one of her notebooks that contained some of her lyrics and other bits of writing. After a few minutes of staring at the pages she saw someone sit down next to her out of the corner of her eye. They sat down in Taylor's old spot. Gabriella wiped her head up to see who had sat down and was shocked to see the ice princess of the school sitting next to her looking straight at her. Gabriella saw her curly blonde hair pulled back into a bit of a poof. She looked down to the girls face and saw that she was getting the look. Gabriella became overwhelmed with anger.

"Sharpay if this has anything to do with Taylor, please don't say it. Don't even try to pretend that you care about what happened to her or what I'm going through right now since you have never made any effort to get to know either of us let alone be friendly to us," Gabriella blurted out before she had a chance to think about what she was saying.

At this bold statement a few heads turned and gave Gabriella a genuine smile for standing up to Sharpay. Basically the entire school was afraid of her and even more afraid to stand up to her despite the many people who wished they could. Gabriella glanced back to Sharpay whose face had now changed from the look to a realization of what Gabriella was saying.

"Look Gabriella, you're right. I haven't been all that nice to you, and I never tried to become friends with Taylor or you. I know you've probably heard this a million times before but I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about Taylor. Even if you think I'm a self-absorbed bitch, I knew that you two were best friends and that you must be dealing with a lot right now. I know what that's like…" Sharpay explained.

"You know what what is like?" Gabriella asked sceptically, turning off her iPod to turn her complete attention to Sharpay.

"Losing a best friend. I know how hard it is to accept, and to move on from. I lost my best friend in grade eight, the year before I transferred here. I guess that's a big part of the reason that I started to become such a bitch. I was afraid to get close to anyone after that, because I didn't want to go through the pain of losing them," Sharpay explained.

"But if you never have any good times with anyone, and if you never become friends and love anyone then you aren't really living your life," Gabriella told her.

"I guess I never really thought about it like that. Everything I've done since her death was driven either by this deep sadness that overwhelmed me or by fear. But I thought I should tell you, even if this doesn't mean a thing coming from me, that you should never, ever blame yourself or wonder if you could have done something to change the course of events that took her life. I don't even know how she died, but if you're going through anything like what happened to me, you're probably wondering if there's something you could have done to save her. But really, everything happens for a reason right? So you should stop wondering and putting blame on yourself and start cherishing the times you two shared," Sharpay said.

"Yeah… um, thanks Sharpay. Oh, and I'm just wondering but how did you find out that she died?" Gabriella questioned.

"My brother told me. He read it in the newspaper, I guess Taylors parents put an add in the obituaries."

"Oh right, that would make sense," Gabriella concluded. The bell rang signaling the end of the period and Gabriella stood up from her desk collecting all her books and shoving them back into her Abercrombie book bag.

"See you around Gabriella," Sharpay waved before she left the classroom.

The rest of the day was uneventful. She texted Troy and Chad in her Chemistry class to let them know how the rest of the school had figured out about Taylor's death. By the end of the day Gabriella was grateful to be away from all of the starring classmates. She went to her locker and pulled out her backpack and shoved in all the books she needed for the night. She slammed her locker shut to reveal to boys standing just down the hall waiting for her. They both had large East High Wildcats gym bags with them. Gabriella made her way down to the boys.

"Thanks for waiting for me guys," she said quietly.

"Well we figured that you wouldn't want to walk into the big gym filled with basketball players by yourself," Troy said as he laced her fingers in his.

When they walked into the gym there were no other players out on the basketball court yet. Gabriella made her way to the bleachers with her bag and sat down a few rows up after saying bye to the two boys.

A few minutes later a couple of the guys from the team came out of the dressing room eyeing her somewhat suspiciously. When the entire team was out of the dressing room Troy called them all together. They all came to the middle of the gym and waited expectantly for some sort of direction of what their practice would look like for the first day of the season.

"Okay Wildcats! First off I want to make an announcement. Up there on the bleachers, that's my girlfriend, Gabriella, as most of you know," Troy pointed up to Gabriella and sent her a wink when he saw her eyes bug out a little and her cheeks turn a light shade of pink from embarrassment. "She's gonna be sitting in on practice for a while, but don't pay any attention to her. We need to focus on this season and being the best we've ever been to win State Championships again. Plus you'll have to remember that no matter how hot she looks, she's taken," Troy added with a smug look on his face. He looked up to Gabriella and saw that her cheeks seemed to be getting more and more red by the second. "Also, you should know that this does not mean that you can invite your girlfriends or other friends to watch practice, this is a special circumstance," Troy added.

Gabriella watched practice while trying to complete as much homework as possible. She was lucky and didn't get too much since it was only the first day back after Spring Break, and she figured that teachers were going easy on everyone. After practice was finished she began to pack up her bags as the boys headed into the change room for showers, both Troy and Chad promising to be no longer than ten minutes.

When the boys finally did come out of the change room they all headed out to the parking lot together. Chad went his own way to find his car, and Troy and Gabriella headed in the direction of Troy's truck.

"So was your afternoon any better than the morning?" Troy asked once they were on their way to Gabriella's house.

"I guess. Not as many people said anything to me about it, although one person did which seemed kind of weird," Gabriella replied thinking back to her conversation with Sharpay.

"Oh, who was that?"

"Sharpay," Gabriella stated.

"Sharpay… as in Sharpay 'ice princess' Evans?" Troy asked shocked.

"Yeah, that's the one. At first I bitched her out because she was giving me that look and I told her that I wanted nothing to do with it from her since she never had shown any liking to either Tay or I before. Then she explained to me that in grade eight she lost her best friend and she knew how hard it must be for me. That's why she became such a bitch to everyone afterwards, because she was so afraid of getting close to someone then losing them again," Gabriella explained.

"Oh please, she was probably just trying to advert more attention to her," Troy said seemingly disgustedly.

"I don't know. She actually seemed… genuine. I mean I told her that the was she was going on with her life wasn't really living and she seemed to really take that in. I think Tay was right," Gabriella said before she thought about the fact that Taylor had told her that there was more to Sharpay in her dream.

"Tay was right about what?" Troy asked.

"Oh nothing important I guess," Gabriella covered quickly, afraid that Troy would think she was crazy.

Troy pulled into her driveway and dropped off his girlfriend. Just as Gabriella was closing the door to the truck Troy yelled out "You want me to pick you up tomorrow again?"

"Okay, if it's cool with you to come get me," Gabriella replied.

"Of course. I'll probably talk to you later tonight. Love you Gabi!"

"Love you too Troy," Gabriella replied then closed the truck door.

Gabriella entered her house and set her backpack down by the door. She knew that her mom would be home from work soon because Gabriella had been later than normal coming home due to staying for practice. But until then, Gabriella's bed was calling her name, and this time Gabriella couldn't ignore it. Gabriella walked upstairs to her room and felt a wave of relief wash over her when she walked into her familiar surrounding. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed with her iPod and her notebook. She had no intentions of going to sleep, but as she'd previously discovered, her bed just seemed to make things so much better.

"It's just not the same without you there Tay," Gabriella whispered aloud to no one.

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Thanks again for reading! :)


	9. Chapter 9

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Gabriella woke the following morning and once again found herself struggling to get up for the day. After a few minutes of lying in her bed she slowly pulled her body from her bed with the small amount of strength she had remaining. She got into her shower and turned the heat up watching the steam float up to the ceiling before stepping in. She slowly crouched down and sat down on the floor of the shower, letting the water cascade over her body. It was her way of washing away the pain a little bit at a time. It was like she was able to wash away the pain, and gather her courage to make it through the day. After finally finishing her shower, she slowly pulled on a pair of grey fleece pants with a pink hoodie over top.

Gabriella grabbed her school bag from her floor and swung it over her shoulder as she made her way out of her bedroom. She tip-toed her way downstairs where her mother had two pancakes waiting for her and a note that told her that she had left for work early. Gabriella managed to eat one of the pancakes before she heard someone knocking on her front door. She stood up from the breakfast bar and slid her way to the front door to let in a waiting Troy. He gave her his million dollar smile as he walked through her front entrance way. Gabriella tossed her remaining pancake in the garbage bin before slipping on a pair of grey flats.

"You pretty much all set then?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Gabriella sighed. She looked down and tried to straighten out her outfit a little bit. Troy reached out and grabbed her shaky hands.

"Don't. You look perfect," he replied knowingly.

"Thanks. Come on, before we're late."

Troy took Gabriella's hand while her other one reached down and once again grabbed her book bag and purse all in one scoop. After locking the door behind her, she made her way out to Troy's truck.

When Gabriella and Troy arrived at school, she once again paused before getting out of the truck. It was a whole new day, with new people looking at her in that awful way, and a whole new set of classes to feel more alone without Taylor than ever.

Troy, sensing Gabriella's uneasiness grabbed her hand across the truck. "Another new day to face," he said, putting Gabriella's thoughts into words. "At least we'll be able to get through it together," he added.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Come on. The bell is going to go in a few," Troy said getting out of his side of the truck.

The two made their way to their lockers, where Chad was waiting somewhat patiently. He seemed to be keeping to himself a lot more since Taylor's death. Gabriella hadn't really noticed any changes in anyone but herself since the beginning of Spring Break. After collecting all of their books for the morning, the three slowly made their way to Ms. Darbus' homeroom. They all sat down close to each other before they had to find their way to their proper seats when the bell went. They each made their own attempts at some sort of conversation, but they all had other things on their mind that was unable to disappear. Gabriella had heard from her mother the night before that Taylor's visitation at the funeral home would be today, and tomorrow while her funeral would be on Thursday. After hearing this, she proceeded to call both Troy and Chad about this so they would all be able to go together and help each other.

The bell went a few minutes later and they all made their way to their own seats, since they still didn't sit close to each other, thanks to Ms. Darbus' seating chart. The principal's voice came on after a few minutes to go through the morning announcements. Most of the students were trying to drown out his boring messages in their own way. Gabriella had pulled out her notebook and was scanning through her writing when an announcement caught her attention.

"As many of you have heard, one of your fellow students, Taylor McKessie, suffered a tragic death over Spring Break. I would like to personally send out my condolences to all of those who were close to her and are suffering through this terrible time. Grief councilors are available at any time for any student who wishes to speak to someone about their loss. To anyone who is interested, Taylor's visitation will be at the Pinehaven funeral home tonight and tomorrow night. Once again, I am deeply sorry for this loss. Taylor was a very bright student, and she will be greatly missed by many," with that the principle continued on with the rest of the morning announcements.

Gabriella could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Gabriella looked across the room to the empty desk that should have been filled with Taylor's presence. She realized that she had one tear rolling down each cheek. She couldn't let others see her so vulnerable, even if this was about her best friend. She had to show them that she was strong, that she would be okay. But as she looked over again and saw Taylor's empty desk her heart suddenly couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes quickly darted across the room to the open door. Her mind barely registered that she was now standing and her feet were moving quickly as the carried her out of the room in a panic. She needed to get out. She needed to get away from this place that held so much of Taylor. She ran to the closest girls bathroom and slammed open the door barely letting it shut before she collapsed to the ground letting her body be overcome with tears once again.

Back in the classroom Troy and Chad both stood on their feet at the exact same moment as Gabriella ran past them both. To say that Gabriella surprised them with her behaviour would originally be an understatement. After realizing the pain that she was going through, it made perfect sense that she would still be grieving the way that she was. They both looked at each other for a second before turning toward Ms. Darbus. Troy opened his mouth to say something to her but was interrupted.

"Go ahead Mr. Bolton, you too Mr. Danforth. She needs all the support she can get right now," Ms. Darbus replied.

The boys nodded before each began jogging out of the classroom to find Gabriella. On the way out though, Troy could have sworn that he saw tears in Ms. Darbus' eye behind her magnified glasses.

Troy quickly put that thought behind him and both boys headed towards the nearest girls bathroom, knowing that Gabriella would have more than likely gone somewhere close. When they made their way to the door, they barely slowed down before pushing the door open rapidly.

"Gabs!"

"Gabi!" they both yelled at the same time.

There was no reply in words but the guys could hear a small sniffle and a sob come from the bathroom. They each poked their head in to see a small girl with dark brown wavy hair crumpled up in ball sitting on the floor attempting to brush away tears. They both walked in, both completely forgetting that it was a girl's bathroom, and sat on either side of Gabriella while each wrapping one arm around her, letting her release all of her built up emotion.

After nearly twenty minutes of sitting on the floor together, Gabriella finally looked up to reveal her puffy, red eyes.

"Why did they have to make some big announcement about it? That wasn't how she was. She liked her life to be private, kept between her close friends and family. No one else should be feeling like me. I was her best friend. Half this school didn't even bother to learn her name, let alone learn what an amazing person she was. Now everyone is acting all depressed about 'losing a close class mate'. It's a piece of shit! This is all so screwed up. I hate this," Gabriella finally vented, letting a few last tears slip out.

"I know Gab. We all hate it. I know it's not fair, but nothing in life seems to be fair anymore. But as much as you and I are hurting, I promise you that we'll make it through together. Troy too. The three of us. If one person is suffering, we're all suffering. We'll all figure out a way to stay strong together, no matter how many times we keep saying this," Chad said as he hugged Gabriella from the side.

"Okay. I'll try," Gabriella said, still wiping her cheeks.

"It'll be okay you know. I think you put too much pressure on yourself to still be the perfect student, and the perfect friend, and to be the strong girl that everyone knows and loves. But you have to know that it's okay to let it out sometimes, no one is going to judge you for crying over something that impacts your life so much. You don't always have to be the perfect girl Gabi. We'll all love you no matter what," Troy explained.

"Come on Gab, you ready to back in now?" Chad asked gently.

"I don't know if I can face everyone again," Gabriella said honestly.

"Like I told you, I don't think anyone will judge you for being upset about this," Troy responded with a squeeze to her hand.

"I guess. It's just really hard."

"I know, it's going to be hard. And the next few days are probably going to get harder. But you know that it will get better. Somewhere deep inside there's a part of you that knows it will get easier after time. But we're both here while it's still hard," Chad firmly told while looking her in the eye, not letting go of her gaze.

"I don't want to have to depend on you guys though."

"Sometimes that's the best thing for you though. Everyone needs a little help sometimes, and that's what friends are for," Troy explained.

"Okay, Thanks guys," Gabriella said after taking a deep breath. She stood up and walked over to the sinks and mirrors to wipe her face off before going back to class. She turned and walked back to the two boys and gave them both great big hugs. When she finally pulled back from them she nodded, signaling that she was ready to go.

Gabriella followed the two boys out of the classroom and made her was through the empty halls back to homeroom. She kept her head down staring at the green speckled floor as she walked to her wooden desk. She sat down quietly, finally allowing herself to look around the room. She saw that both Troy and Chad were looking back at her to make sure that she was still okay. She gave them both a small nod of her head before turning her head to the right and saw that Sharpay was also looking at her. Sharpay looked away after just a second, but in that second Gabriella seemed to see that Sharpay was looking at her not as though she felt sorry, but as though she knew what Gabriella was going through.

Gabriella began watching the wind flow through the trees out of the classroom window. She saw a few students scurrying outside, as they made their way into the school to get a late pass.

The bell sounded throughout the school, pulling Gabriella back inside as she stood up to grab her books and make her way out of homeroom and into her first class of the day.

Gabriella spent the morning fretting about what everyone thought about her little outburst in homeroom. The truth was, to her it wasn't little. She didn't want to seem weak in front of her peers, or anyone for that matter. She wanted to be known as the girl who was always in control of her emotions. So that's what she would do. It would take some time but she would take over her emotions once again, she wouldn't let anyone see her in pain anymore, no matter what Troy and Chad told her. She would push her emotions out of the way and move on with her life. She'd do it all for herself, and for Taylor.

When the bell went for lunch, Gabriella made her way to her locker to drop off her books from the morning and grab her lunch on the top shelf. She slammed the army green door shut to reveal both of the boys walking her way.

"Hey Gabi, feeling any better?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine," she replied as she began to make her way to the lunchroom, leaving the two boys to pick up the pace behind her.

On the way there, Sharpay stepped out in front of them as they were weaving their way through the crowd.

"Ugh, Gabriella, could I talk to you for a minute?" Sharpay asked, almost timidly.

They three exchanged skeptical looks before Gabriella looked back at Sharpay.

"I promise it'll only take a minute," Sharpay added, noting the looks she was getting.

"Yeah, okay. I'll just meet you guys at the table in a few then," she said looking towards her two closest friends, trying to tell them with her eyes that she would be fine.

The guys nodded in confusion, but never the less made their way into the lunchroom as the two girls headed towards an empty hall to talk in private.

"What's up Shar?" Gabriella demanded quickly once out of earshot of the rest of the students.

"I just wanted to thank you for what you said to me the other day. I know that I haven't been the best person in the world, and seeing you hurt over the loss of a close friend just brings back memories. It's made me think a whole lot about who I am now and who I've become. I don't want to be this girl anymore. I've realized that I really have no true friends, I haven't had a real boyfriend well ever, unless you count Kyle in grade 6, but everything has just opened my eyes. So I wanted to say thanks, because that's all because of you. And if it isn't too much to ask, because I totally understand if it is… but maybe would I be able to sit with you and Troy and Chad at lunch today? I'd like a fresh start, and that would begin with meeting new people and making an effort to be nice but I think you're the only one who I would even have a chance at starting out with," Sharpay confessed.

Gabriella stayed silent as she stared at Sharpay in shock. Never in a million years would she ever expect that she would be here standing across from Sharpay Evens, who was admitting that she was sorry and wanted to start over. But what she couldn't believe even more than all that were the words that came out of her mouth next.

"You've done a lot to hurt many people that I know and am close to in the past. But if you're really serious about changing and trying to make an effort to be a good person, than I'd be happy to help you start doing that. Come on, I've got a couple of guys to really introduce you to," Gabriella responded with a slight smile.

Sharpay looked shocked that Gabriella was actually accepting this new news for a moment, but quickly began to walk to the lunchroom with Gabriella. She followed Gabriella to the table that Troy and Chad were sitting at, deep in conversation about a new basketball play they were trying to clean up with the team. When they noticed that they were no longer alone they both looked up to see who was standing on the other side of the table. The looks on their faces turned from shock, to confused, to angry and back again. Finally they both turned towards Gabriella for an answer to why Sharpay Evens was now taking a seat at their table next to Gabriella.

"Guys, this is Sharpay. The real Sharpay Evens," Gabriella added with a glance toward Sharpay to see her small smile. "She's gonna sit with us at lunch now. Shar, this is Troy and Chad," she explained motioning to each boy as she said their name.

The boys looked at each other skeptically but decided that it would be better to just accept it for now, and question what Gabriella was doing later. They sat quietly for a few minutes eating their lunch while trying not to notice all the staring eyes.

"Why does everyone keep looking over here?" Sharpay asked.

"Maybe because you're known as the ice princess of the entire school and all of the sudden you're sitting here with us, people you've never been nice to," Troy suggested.

"Well, I've changed. Something that Gabs said to me realized what I was doing and how much of a bitch I was being before and I've vowed to never be like that again."

"Okay…" said Chad.

"Guys, come on. Let's just quit talking about this and eat okay?" Gabriella interspersed.

Everyone went silent again as they picked up whatever they had been eating before. Troy had a bologna sandwich, Chad was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Sharpay picked up the fork to shove another bit of the spinach salad she had in her mouth, and Gabriella took a bite of her tuna pita. An awkward silence descended on the group after a moment, that no one seemed to be able to change. Finally, after what seemed like forever to each of them, the bell finally sounded through the school. They all practically jumped to their feet before mumbling excuses to get out of the cafeteria as quickly as possible. Gabriella stood alone next to her table, amidst all the garbage the others had left. She sighed and slid all the trash to one tray before walking over and dumping in the garbage can. She quietly made her way out of the lunchroom before grabbing her books from her locker to endure the last three classes of the day. Luckily, she didn't have any classes with Troy, Chad and Sharpay together. She was trying to take control of her life, the way Sharpay was by apologizing but she wasn't getting anywhere with her life yet. She would change soon; it didn't have to be right away.

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	10. Chapter 10

Gabriella stood in the middle of her closet staring at various outfits she had put together for Taylor's visitation. One was a pair of pin stripe black pants with a white blouse, one was her favorite pair of black track pants and matching track sweatshirt, and one was a plain black pencil skirt that belonged to Taylor with an ivory coloured blouse. Gabriella took a step back comparing the three outfits trying to weigh the pros and cons. She sat down on her fuzzy beige carpet and let her hands graze the tips of the fabric.

Earlier Gabriella had made plans with Chad and Troy to meet at her place at 6:45 so that they could all head over to the funeral home together. She stared out of her bedroom window and looked at the sun setting beneath the trees and the houses. She glanced back at her clock and saw that it was 6:32. She had less than 15 minutes to get ready before the boys would show up for the visitation.

Gabriella walked back to her closet to try to find the right outfit once again. Her mother knocked on the door before coming in while Gabriella turned stuck her head out of her closet.

"Are you almost ready Mija?" her mother asked.

"No, not really. I don't know what to wear, but my track suit is looking pretty inviting right now," Gabriella replied.

"You are not wearing that old thing tonight Ella. Choose one of the other two outfits, I like them. I don't remember this skirt though."

"That's because it was Tay's."

"Oh. Well, hurry Ella because the boys are going to be here in a few minutes."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't believe this is actually happening. I'm about to go to my best friend's visitation," Gabriella realized.

"I know Mija, it's not easy. But you will get through it. You'll be fine," her mother replied and gave Gabriella a hug.

Gabriella sighed again as her mother walked out of her room. She looked back at the two choices in front of her, and picked up one of the outfits. She quickly changed before heading downstairs to wait for the boys.

Gabriella was already at the door before the boys even had the chance to ring the doorbell.

"Hey guys. I'm all set," she said turning around to grab her coat and purse. "I'm going now mom. Be back later."

"Okay Ella, and by the way I think you made a good choice to wear the skirt," Gabriella's mother replied with a sad smile.

The three teenagers returned to Troy's truck and all got in together. They were quiet as they made their way over to the funeral home. No words were spoken to each other, the radio was off, and all that was left to be heard were the cars as they passed by.

The funeral home was fairly empty when they got there. It was only 6:55, so when the three walked in together Gabriella headed straight for Taylor's mom to give her a hug. Both girls were keeping the tears in for now, but knew that it wouldn't take much. Taylor's casket being rolled into the room for example, which had just made its way in. Two large men rolled it to the front and placed a large flower arrangement on the lower half. They spoke with Taylor's dad for a minute before walking back to the casket and opening the top half.

Gabriella barely held in a gasp as she saw her best friend, who appeared to be sleeping. The two boys' eyes grew wide as they stood behind Gabriella. She pulled a piece of paper and a picture out of her pocket and looked down at them for a minute.

"I'm right here when you need me," Troy said lightly placing a hand on Gabriella's back.

Gabriella nodded in return. She looked up at Troy then to Chad to see that both boys had glassy eyes already. She heard voices coming in the room and glanced back to see that some other students were beginning to file in Gabriella turned back towards the boys then looked down at the paper in her hands again.

"I'll be right back," she said quietly. Troy and Chad nodded, understanding that she needed a minute to say goodbye as best as she could.

Gabriella walked over to the casket and placed the note and a copy of her favorite picture of the two of them next to Taylor's still body.

"I'm gonna miss you Tay. I already do. Please don't leave me though, you know how much I need you to help me now. Just keep coming back to let me know that you haven't forgotten about me up there in heaven okay? I love you Tay. The sister I never had. I hope you're happy up there. You're okay now. No one can hurt you anymore. No one will hurt you. Be happy. I love you. We miss you down here," Gabriella concluded as she turned around to go meet Troy and Chad again and saw that many more people had already arrived. Gabriella looked around and found that she wasn't the only one with tears streaming down her face.

She made her way back to the boys and Chad mumbled something about going over. Troy wrapped his arm around the side of Gabriella's waist and kissed the side of her head. The two watched as Chad gently took Taylor's left hand and lifted it up for a minute. He spent another moment with her before he turned around to head back to where Gabriella and Troy were standing. As he began to walk back Gabriella noticed the small red flick of light coming from Taylor's casket.

"You put her ring back on her hand didn't you?" Gabriella inquired.

"Yeah… it was hers. Forever. I think it's the right thing to do. Plus what would I do with it? She should have it, even if it is this way."

"I think that would make her really happy. She always loved you with her whole heart you know," replied Gabriella.

The three walked over to one of the unoccupied couches at the side of the room. Gabriella grabbed a few tissues from a side table before sitting down between her now closest friends. A few of the students from their school came over to express their condolences to the three closest to Taylor. The night was a long one for most of those who showed up to Taylor's visitation. Many students from East High showed up to say one final goodbye to Taylor, or offer their condolences to her parents and friends. Gabriella felt betrayed that so many people were using this death as a reality check. Most students at the school knew Taylor, but few ever took the time to ever really get to know the person that she was. They simply accepted that one of their classmates was now dead and that life is short. Take what you get and use it. The entire school was affected by Taylor's death, but simply because they knew her. So many students acted like this death changed their life, but none of them had been affected the way that Gabriella, Chad or ever Troy had.

The three were still sitting on the same couch when a few girls came in only thirty minutes before the visitation was to end. Gabriella recognized the four as the head cheerleader, Stacey, and her three closest friends right away. They had never given Taylor the time of day; they barely even knew her name. Stacey was crying and had her arms wrapped around herself as she headed over to Taylor's mom.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. McKessie. Taylor is going to be missed by so many of us. She was such a beautiful person. She meant so much to me. I totally looked up to her."

"Well thank you… um…"

"Stacey. My name is Stacey," the cheerleader provided.

Gabriella heard this and was shocked. One of the worst girls in the school was acting now more fake than ever. Gabriella stood up and walked over to Stacey and Taylor's mom.

"Stacey!" Gabriella called out.

"Oh, Gabriella, I'm sorry about Taylor."

"What are you talking about Stacey?! You barely ever talked to her! You didn't know her. You didn't know anything about her! You're just some spoiled bitch who wants more attention and more people to feel sorry for you. I don't care if you've had a 'troubled childhood' or whatever and you're insecure but there is absolutely no reason that you should be acting like this! There is no excuse. I'll bet you haven't been through have the shit that Taylor had to go through. Until you now her, who she was, what she lived for, and why she is now lying there where I'll never ever be able to speak with her again, you can just stay the hell away! How dare you treat her like this? She meant nothing to you!" Gabriella spat.

"Gabi… come on, let's go," Troy said gently pulling Gabriella away from the scene that had unfolded. Both Troy and Chad shot Taylor's mom an apologetic look. Mrs. McKessie simply shook her head, silently telling the boys that it was fine, Gabriella had simply stood up for her best friend.

The three friends made their way out of the funeral home together and crawled into Troy's truck. They were all silent, questioning what had just happened. It wasn't like Gabriella to have such an outburst, especially in public. Chad turned to look at Gabriella and saw that she still had small tears leaving their mark as they slid down her cheeks.

"Gabs, what was that all about?" he asked gently.

"You heard what Stacey was saying. She had absolutely no…"

"That's not what I mean. It's not like you to burst like that. You're always able to keep your cool, you're even the one who's always calming either Troy or I down."

"I know. But Taylor was… is… my best friend. Stacey didn't know her. I just couldn't bear to hear anyone else take advantage of her death. It's not right, and I guess I just got fed up with it. Sorry if I embarrassed you guys," she explained.

"Gabi, you have nothing to apologize to us about. We both know that we've thrown our fair share of embarrassing scenes onto you," Troy said taking one of her hands in his while continuing to drive carefully with the other.

Troy soon pulled into Gabriella's driveway where she invited them inside, claiming that she didn't feel like being alone just yet. The two went inside with her and went downstairs while Gabriella went up to her room to change. She returned quickly and sat next to the boys in her grey sweats.

"Are you guys going to say anything at her funeral?" Gabriella wondered out of the blue.

"You know me and words Gabs. The two just don't go together. I feel like if I tried to say something big and important about her it would just turn out all wrong. I wouldn't want what I feel about her to come out all wrong. I think this way, she knows how I feel and there's no better way that I can put that into words," Chad said.

"I don't really feel like I knew her well enough to say something that would do her justice. I mean I know that she was a great person, but I never understood her like you did, and just like Chad, I feel like anything I say would just be what everyone else either knows or assumes about her," Troy added.

"I guess that's true. I think I might say something about her. I wasn't going to because I felt like there was no point because no one else really knew her and everyone was just using this as a reality check, but then I thought about that. And maybe I can use that as a different kind of reality check for them. Make them realize what they're doing and what they missed out on by never taking the time to get to know Taylor. Maybe I could change the way they see things, and they'll really value what they all have in their lives. And if there are other out there that don't have too many people that take the time to get to know them, maybe this can give them some hope. Because Taylor never cared about those who didn't care about her. She knew that those weren't the things in life that mattered and she was right. So if I can help even one person out by inspiring them to be more like Tay, then I think it'll be worth it," Gabriella concluded.

"Wow, that's incredible Gabi," Troy told her honestly.

The rest of the night was just like any other with the three. They hung out and talked for a little while before the boys headed home for the night. Things were starting to feel a little bit more stable in everyone's life. Gabriella was no longer threatening to break down in tears any longer, and everyone was beginning to understand that this was how things were going to be from here on out. Though know one was quite ready to accept that. The three understood that Taylor was not coming back, and Gabriella had spent so many hours, and days crying over her loss, she knew that no amount of tears were going to bring Taylor back to her. She hadn't had any dreams with Taylor in them again, but was still hoping to have the comfort of seeing her best friend again – even if it was only in a dream. Gabriella's mother was starting to feel more comfortable with leaving Gabriella alone again. It seemed that everyone was beginning to feel that the world really wasn't coming to an end just yet.

As she entered her bedroom later that night, Gabriella walked over to her computer where she began to type out a rough outline of what she wanted to say at Taylor's funeral. She knew that this would be important. It would mean a lot to Taylor to know that Gabriella had the courage to get up and say some comforting things to those out there that needed it, and could maybe give others some hope for the future. As Gabriella began to type out her thoughts, she began to feel as if they really were the truth. Sometimes everyone needs someone there to fall back on. And if anyone looked carefully enough, there's bound to be at least one person that would do anything for them.

Gabriella thought about this. Taylor always felt as though "those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind". Taylor knew that she had a couple of very good friends that would always be there for her and that's all she needed. When Gabriella finished writing out what she thought she would say at the funeral she finally decided it was time for bed.

As Gabriella began to get ready for bed that night, she felt for the first time in a while that maybe, just maybe things would turn out alright.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey. So, I know that I've been slacking lately. I'm sorry. I went through a major period of writers block. Then it was like all of a sudden way too many ideas came crashing at me at once, and I now have four stories that I'm writing. Not all of them are on Fanfic though, and not all are HSM ones. So, I'm trying to balance out school, work, writing 4 stories, and actually having a life. It's cool if people have lost intrest in this one though, because honestly... I wasn't even sure how far this was going to go with Fanfic. I guess I'm still not sure if I should keep going. But either way - if you do still read this story then you're awesome. And thanks :)**

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Gabriella walked down the aisle between the rows and rows of church pews. She walked to the second row where she turned to the left and made her way over to where Troy and Chad were sitting quietly. Her mom walked up to the front row and sat down next to Taylor's mom. The church echoes with whispers that bounced along the walls and the ceiling.

Gabriella was dressed in a black satin skirt with a cream coloured turtleneck under her black cardigan. She knew this day would come. She had written her final words for the students, parents and friends to hear about Taylor. She held her small black purse that was stuffed with Kleenex in her hands tightly. She showed nothing of the true pain she felt. She sat silently as Troy placed one hand on her knee as he watched a single tear slowly make its way down her cheek.

Troy felt helpless looking at his girlfriend. She lived with an incredible pain building inside her and there was nothing he could do for her. He desperately wished that he could take away her pain, but he was honest with himself by accepting that he wouldn't be able to. All he could do was make sure that she knew he was there for her. He could try to understand what she was going through and help her however she needed it.

Gabriella looked down at Troy's hand as it rested on her knee. She knew that he was trying to do everything he could for her. She knew that he was being incredibly patient with her, and had been completely and totally understanding since the second he found out about Taylor's death. She was grateful that he was so accepting and that he continued to be there for her, but she knew that he still would never be able to understand the pain that she was going through. Troy always wanted to be there for her, and sometimes he didn't understand that she needed to be alone. Gabriella didn't always want to be crying on someone's shoulder. It was nice to know that the option was there, but sometimes a girl just needed to wallow in her own emotions. She needed to be able to work out whatever she was feeling by herself, on her own terms instead of someone else forcing out the things that she was feeling.

The speeches began as everyone talked about what a wonderful person Taylor was. They spent their time standing at the front of the church talking about the kind of life she lived, and how her short years were filled with more life than many of the people sitting in the church that morning. They talked of the importance of being true to yourself and living your life the way it should always be lived. They all focused on all the achievements Taylor had, and all the greatness she possessed. Gabriella had her purse open to use her Kleenex by the end of the first speech. Finally, three more people later, Gabriella knew that it was her turn to go up in front of the full church of people to share her friendship with Taylor.

Troy gave her hand a quick squeeze before she made her way up to the front podium where she set her page down in front of her. She took a deep breath and looked out in front of her. There were hundreds of expectant eyes that looked at her, waiting to hear more wonderful things about Taylor. Gabriella looked down at Troy who tried to give her a slight smile of encouragement. Her eyes made their way to Chad where she saw his own red rimmed ones. Gabriella had never ever seen Chad look so vulnerable. He was always the fun loving, laughing, excited guy that everyone knew and loved. But lately Chad looked to sad, and tired. He always looked like he was trying so hard just to take part in a conversation. It was like he was always distracted. The normal goofy smile and sparkle in his eyes were now both wiped away. She suddenly knew that this speech she was giving was not only one that she was giving to her to students, parents and friends for herself, and for Taylor, but it was for Chad as well. Chad was the only who felt anything close to the pain that she was feeling. Chad lost his girlfriend, and Gabriella lost her best friend. Gabriella wiped her clammy hands on her skirt before she began.

"At first when I heard the announcement about Taylor at school, I was really upset. I didn't want people to find out like that. Most of the school didn't know her. I was angry that people were being all fake in their sadness because they hardly ever talked to her. I just thought it wasn't fair. And when I heard that the school was invited, I was frustrated. I figured that most kids would completely dismiss the idea, and ignore the service. When I heard so many students talking about coming, I was confused. I wondered why so many people chose to come. But then I realized that this would be the best time for you all to get to know Taylor. The real Taylor," she began gathering up her courage.

"When I came here years ago, Taylor was the first person I met that was nice to me. I was the freaky smart new girl, but Taylor saw past every single stereotype that was put on me. Probably because she endured all the same stereotypes. She helped me find my way around the school and find a place to fit in. She was the most generous person I have ever known. There are so many things to tell you about Taylor that it seems impossible to be able to tell you in a few minutes that I have up here. I wish you all could have known her the way I know her.

"No one really saw her as a "popular" student because she really cared about her grades. She worked hard to get what she had. She had a strong sense of morals. She didn't go out and get drunk illegally every weekend, and for that she was never cool enough. But the thing that was most amazing was that she didn't care what all the students and peers thought about her. None of it affected her at all. She was amazingly confident in herself, and for that I have always admired her."

"In this day in age, the way the media has shaped our entire world it's hard not to let the opinions of others get to you. But no matter what other people said about Taylor, she always ignored the comments. And she always brought me up when I let those comments get to me. Sure, she had some not so good qualities about her – we all do. I mean, when she would get stressed out she would really start snapping at everyone all around her. And sure, she did judge some people from time to time, but the thing about that was that she never judged them without knowing what they were about. She knew who they were and then spoke her mind about them. So, yeah she wasn't perfect. But are you? Is anyone in this room even close to perfect? No. But Taylor was strong. She was independent, loving, fun, brilliant, creative and so many more things. And for the most part she was happy. Taylor's life ended in tragedy no matter what way you look at it. She was the best friend a girl could ever ask for. So I'm making a promise to her. From here on out, I'm gonna promise to live my life. I mean really live it. Exactly the way I want to live it. Everyone should truly live life, because we never know when it's going to be taken away from us. But I'm not going to live my life only for myself, but for the rest of life that Taylor never got to live. I read a quote somewhere that said, 'every song has a coda, a final movement, whether it fades out or it crashes away. Every song ends. But is that any reason not to enjoy the music? The truth is there is nothing to be afraid of. It's just life.'" Gabriella took a break to wipe away the tears that had come. She closed her eyes momentarily while she took a breath.

"I wish you all could have known the true Taylor that I knew. I honestly believe that every single person would be better because of it. I wish there were more people in the world like Tay. Because despite the pain that comes along with losing a friend, the happiness they bring is so much more important. It's the laughter and those priceless memories that we all share of those that we have loved and lost that keep up going. Taylor brought out the best in me because she was always the best version of herself. She gave me so much more than a best friend, I'll never forget that," Gabriella concluded. She sniffled as she grabbed her paper and made her way back to her seat. She looked at Chad as she sat down between him and Troy once again to see that he now had tears rolling down his face. Gabriella reached over and handed him one of her Kleenex's and leaned her head to his shoulder for a minute as she reached over and took one of Troy's hands in her own.

Although Gabriella had promised herself that she would live her life exactly how she wanted to for herself and for Taylor, she wasn't sure when she would be able to stand on her own two feet again. She held on to both Troy and Chad for the remainder of the ceremony as the three of them let every emotion they had stored up inside come out. The three cried together, and even laughed together a few times at distant memories.

At the end of the ceremony the entire church stood up and walked out behind Taylor's parents and Gabriella, Chad and Troy. Gabriella told them that she was going to head to the bathroom but would be out in a few minutes to head to the graveyard together. When she entered she was grateful that no one else seemed to choose the same path that she did. Everyone else seemed to make her way straight to the graveyard. Despite the fact that Gabriella had cried throughout the entire ceremony, she began to sob as she leaned against one of the stall walls. She felt so defeated after making that speech. It was as though Taylor's death all may have been a dream until she said her final words out loud. Gabriella let her tears drown her face for a few minutes before her breath became staggered. She tried to take in deep even breaths to steady herself again but found that she could only get in short uneven breaths.

"Gabi, babe you okay in there?" She heard Troy call into the bathroom. She heard the door open slightly and presumed that he was now sticking his head inside to see if it was safe to be calling into the girls' bathroom.

Gabriella tried her best to respond but found that she could not make any words. She seemed to make some sort of sound, but it sounded more like gasping than anything else. She closed her eyes as she heard the door open up more.

"Gabi!" Troy said rushing over to here where she was now sitting on the bathroom floor, still gasping for air trying to get her breath back to normal while her body continued to be wracked with sobs.

"Oh baby, why did this have to happen to you?" Troy said quietly, so crushed.

Troy did the only thing he could think of to get Gabriella's breath back to normal. He gently pulled her small body away from the wall and pushed her back up against his chest. He breathed in and out deeply so that she could feel it. He could only hope that her body would register his breathing and do the same. After a few minutes he could feel her body begin to breathe along with his. He soon heard her calm down as well. She turned around in his arms and threw her arms around him and held on tightly. The two sat on the floor holding onto each other while Troy stroked her hair while he placed light kisses along her head.

After a few more moments Gabriella pulled back. She stood up suddenly and walked over to the mirror silently. She wiped at her eyes to do all the damage control she could. Then she turned back to Troy and walked over to him.

"We should go now. Chad's probably waiting for us," she stated.

"Are you going to be okay Brie? I'm worried about you," Troy said honestly.

"I'll be fine. Like I said earlier, I'm going to start living my life for me and for Taylor. I'll get better at dealing with it, it's just very difficult today. But it's probably hard for Chad too, that's why we need to be there for him too."

"Okay. I'll always be here for you sweetie," Troy said kissing her forehead again.

Gabriella nodded as she took his hand and began to leave the washroom. Chad was standing outside the bathroom waiting for them, and his eyes widened slightly when Gabriella and Troy came out. He walked straight over to Gabriella and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Gabs are you okay?" he asked noticeably choked up.

"I'll be fine Chad. Don't worry about me," Gabriella replied.

"I just need you to be okay Gabs. You've gotta be strong for us all. Just take it from Tay. Be strong for her," Chad said.

"Chad, we'll talk later okay?" Gabriella told him pulling back from his arms.

"Come one guys, we should head out now…" Troy said.

The three made their way over to the burial ceremony. It looked exactly like everyone expected it would. Taylor's casket was now lying on top of the open whole in the ground while a large sheet of strong, green mesh held it there. There were four rows of seats placed on either side of the casket with many others standing around.

This ceremony was much shorter than the first. Gabriella, Chad, and Troy made their way over to three empty chairs in the second row. They listened carefully before most began to make their way back to their cars. The three teenagers, Gabriella's mother, and Taylor's family stayed behind. They were the only ones there when Taylors casket was lowered to the ground. The tears streaked everyone's faces as they all watched one of the most important people in their lives be put down into the ground.

Gabriella stood up and grabbed one of the yellow roses from the floral arrangement that had once rested on top of the casket. She walked over to the large whole in the ground and lightly let the flower fall to the casket below. Chad walked over followed by Troy who both did the same thing. The adults then stood up from their seats and each placed a handful of dirt on the casket and whispered their final goodbyes. They were all invited back to the McKessie's home where many were gathering for some time together.

"Mom, is it okay if I meet you there?" Gabriella asked quietly staring at the wooden cross that would claim Taylors spot until her granite headstone arrived.

"Of course, Mija. I'll grab a ride with the McKessie's. I'll see you soon," her mother replied giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Gabriella turned back to the boys who were both still standing next to the gaping hole in the ground.

"Hey guys, if you want you can head over to Tay's now. I'm just gonna stay here for a few minutes to, you know, say bye I guess," Gabriella explained.

"Right, okay. We'll meet you there," Troy said giving her a quick kiss. "I love you Gabi," he added.

"Love you too. You too Chad," Gabriella said to the boys.

Chad nodded silently as the two began to make their way to Troy's truck. Gabriella turned around and made her way to the top of the grave, where the cross stood. She lightly traced her fingers over Taylor's name. Though Gabriella expected it, the tears didn't come.

"Hey Tay… I hope you're feeling better up there. I really hope you're happy. I guess now that you're really here… in this place, this hole I mean, I'll come visit you all the time. I'll still tell you everything. You're still gonna be my best friend. But I know somehow that I won't really need to come here to tell you all about everything cause you'll be watching down anyways. You'll keep me safe right? Cause I meant what I said today… about living my life. I'll take more risks, I'll have more fun. I'll let lose more, and it's be all for you. Because you never got to live out these years, I'll do it for you. I promise," Gabriella stated.

"I know you will Gabs, that why I love you so much."

"Taylor? You're here?" Gabriella asked in quiet amazement.

"Of course. You know when you're younger and you sometimes wonder if you could just temporarily die, just so that you could see who came to your funeral and who didn't? Whose life did you impact and whose did you miss out on? Well, I did. I got to see all that. Plus, you already know that I'm always here for you. I just choose when to let you know and when to let you wonder," she replied.

"Well why now?" Gabriella wondered.

"It's my funeral Gabs. I know how upset you are today. I just figured that if I could give you any kind of hope that today would be the day you could use it."

"Well thanks. I feel really weird talking to you though. I mean your body is lying in that casket right next to me, and yet I'm talking to you. I feel crazy," Gabriella admitted.

"Nah, you're not crazy. Sure I'm in your head, but I'm also in your heart and that's the most important thing. That, and the fact that I need to make sure that when I do choose to talk to you that no one else is around so that others don't start thinking you're crazy," Taylor replied almost laughing.

"Thank you Taylor. For always being there for me. Dead or alive, I guess."

"That's what best friends are for. Now go. Everyone is waiting for you, and I promise you'll have hundreds of opportunities to come back here. Plus, you know now that you don't even need to come back here to talk to me. But you have to understand that I'm not always going to be able to talk to you. I need to choose the right time, because you have to learn how to get strong again on your own. Just don't forget that I'm always here girl," Taylor promised.

"I won't. Talk to you soon I guess," Gabriella said feeling silly all over again.

"Bye Gabs. Stay strong."

Gabriella smiled down sadly at Taylor's casket one last time before she turned around to make her way back to her car. This time, walking away from Taylor's casket wasn't quite as hard as the last, for Gabriella had found a new strength in herself.

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**This was a really tough chapter for me to write, hope it was worth the read! :P -- K**


	12. Chapter 12

The buzzer sounded through the gym ending the game between the Wildcats and the Vikings. Troy had led his team, backed up by Chad to win 56-42.

The stands began to clear quickly as the boys rushed out of the gym to the locker room wildly excited at the win of their first game of the season. Gabriella stayed in her seat while she waited for Troy and Chad to finish up in the locker room and return to join her. It wasn't long before the two boys finally strutted out with their shirts half done up and their ties dangling around their shoulders, which also held their gym bags.

"Hey babe, what'd you think?" Troy said as he approached his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"You two were great. That's definitely a good way to start off the season," she said smiling and responding to her boyfriend by slinking her arm around his torso.

Gabriella's mood had changed dramatically since Taylor's funeral. Both the boys and Gabriella's mother had noticed a change in her attitude. Gabriella hadn't been keeping herself locked up in her bedroom and appeared to have a whole new outlook on how to deal with life. It was almost as if the old Gabriella was back. Almost.

"So Gabs, you coming to the after party with the team and everyone?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, sure. My mom said that it was fine if I went out after the game. And I really doubt that she cares what time I come home," Gabriella answered.

"Sounds perfect. You can hitch a ride with me too since I drove Troy here," Chad offered.

"Cool, thanks Chad."

The three walked out of the gym together and headed over to Chad's car. Troy and Chad both tossed their bags in the trunk and Troy got in the back seat next to Gabriella while Chad jumped in the front and started up the engine.

The party was well on its way by the time the three walked through the front door at 9:50. Gabriella wasn't surprised when what seemed like the entire house screamed as the two wildcat superstars walked through the front door. She looked up to see both faces lit up in smiles.

"Alright, I know you're some big superstar tonight and everything, so just promise that you won't forget me by the end of the night," Gabriella whispered and gave him a wink as she walked away heading to the kitchen.

The boys were immediately flooded with many teammates, and fellow students coming to congratulate them on their first big win of the season. Troy quickly lost sight of his girlfriend, and got lost in the hype that was still flowing through the room over the win the Wildcats had just achieved.

Gabriella squeezed her way around many of the hot bodies that were moving to the music throughout the house. She had one destination at this point in time – the kitchen. That's where everyone would have the alcohol they sneaked by their parents as they went to the basketball game that night. Gabriella was not a drinker; she was not even a partier. But tonight was different – tonight was the first night that she'd been out with any number of people (other than those who were close to her like Troy and Chad) since Taylor's death. She promised herself that she wouldn't let Tay's death bring her down anymore. She was going to live her life, enjoy her time here while she still could. She wasn't going to let others bring her down with their pitying looks and sad smiles that she still received as she walked through the hallways of her school. She was sick of having the purple bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep she had been getting. Gabriella was tired of living this life, so she was changing that. Starting tonight.

Gabriella finally found her way into the large kitchen. The counters had so many different bottles on them; you could hardly see the shiny granite under them. There was a stack of red plastic cups that were lined up in various spots on the counter, and Gabriella grabbed one with her left hand. She began to look through the bottles for something she could drink that would suit her purpose. She wasn't used to alcohol, so she didn't want something that would be too heavy for her right away. She also wanted something that would help to take away the lingering pain she still felt.

"Here- try this."

Gabriella looked up as a hand reached out for her cup, taking it from her delicate hand. There was a tall boy with spiky blonde hair and a lip ring that stood in front of her with a confident smile on his face.

He began to mix alcohol with juice easily looking back and forth from Gabriella to the drink. When he was finished he handed it back to her without a word.

Gabriella was skeptical. First of all, who was this guy? Why should Gabriella trust him, especially when she knew so little about alcohol and mixing them with different drinks?

"You looked pretty lost, like you didn't know where to begin. I don't see you much around the parties. Don't worry, it's not going to kill you, it's just a screwdriver. It's light, but it'll do the trick for you," mystery man said, explaining himself.

Gabriella nodded in return before taking a small sip of her drink. It didn't taste like much, orange juice with a kick really. It was hard to handle at first – obviously the alcohol.

"So you must be pretty excited for the Wildcats' win then, I mean since you're drinking and all," he started.

Still unsure, Gabriella answered somewhat tentatively. "Well sure, I mean it's the first big game of the season, it's always nice to start the season with a win," she answered taking another sip of her drink.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It's the best feeling in the world when you score," he replied.

"Do you play? I don't recognize you from school…" she said right before her mouth was filled with the drink again.

"I used to. But not at East High. I'm pretty new around here… that's why you don't know me yet," the boy said with another smile.

"Oh, alright. So what's your name?"

"Wes. And I'm guessing that you're the famous Gabriella?"

"Uh, well I don't know about famous, but I suppose if you want to see me like that I'll let you," she answered.

"Well famous or not, you seem to be pretty popular around here. I hear your name come up everywhere I go it seems like," Wes replied, as his eyes scanned her body.

Gabriella nodded as she processed the information. She wasn't sure what to say next, so she just took another sip of the drink, letting it flow through her and warm up her insides. She tilted back the cup, only to find that the contents were now gone. That was fast.

Suddenly she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her petit body and lift her off the ground a couple of inches.

"Hey there babe, who's this?" Troy asked as his voice whispered in her ear.

"Troy! Oh, this is um… Wes. Wes, this is my amazing boy, Troy," Gabriella said beaming as she turned around in Troy's arms.

"Hi Wes, I'm Troy… obviously. You new here?"

"Yeah pretty recently," Wes said nodding to Troy.

"Well then, welcome to Albuquerque."

"You're gonna love it here. It's so… nice," Gabriella said as she set her empty cup down on the counter the three were still standing next to.

"Gabs, have you been drinking?" Troy asked skeptically.

"Only a little bit Troy boy. Don't worry 'bout me," Gabriella said smiling as she leaned her head into Troy's chest. "You smell nice," she added.

"Well thanks babe. Let's go find Chad… see what he's up to," Troy said grabbing her hand and dragging Gabriella along with him. "Nice to meet you Wes, maybe we'll see you later."

"Sure, enjoy your night guys," Wes said as he began pouring a drink for himself.

Troy led Gabriella back to the living room where Chad was in the middle of a large crowd yelling over the music and many voices around him. Troy couldn't understand a single thing that Chad was saying, but figured Chad must have been having a good time judging by the smile on his face.

"Gabs, what do you say we get out of here? I can take you home so you can go to sleep," Troy suggested as he continued to hold up Gabriella.

"No way! This is fun Troy… let's just have some fun tonight. We haven't had fun since…,"

"Yeah, okay. I guess we can stay for a bit longer… I don't have to be back home for a while yet. But here, you sit down, I'm gonna go save Chad for a sec. Be right back babe," he gently set her down on the couch and walked over to where Chad had three not-so-great girls throwing themselves at him with Chad looking desperate for an escape.

"Yo Chad! I need you over here for… uh… something. You know how it is ladies," Troy said flashing them his famous Troy Bolton smile.

"Absolutely."

"Of course."

"No doubt," the three girls all chanted at once.

The two boys began walking out from the middle of the crowd back to where Troy had left Gabriella.

"Hey man, you looked like you could use an escape back there. Come on, Gabs is sitting in here, and I don't know what's going on with her tonight… but I'm gonna try to keep a close eye on her til we leave," Troy explained.

"Why? Something up?" Chad pondered.

"She's been drinking…"

"Are we still talking about Gabriella? As in Gabriella Montez?" Chad asked in semi-shock.

"Yes, that's why I need to go get her from right…," Troy stopped in mid sentence.

"Right where? Didn't you say that she was sitting in here? Cause I don't see her,"

"Thanks for that one captain obvious," Troy said rolling his eyes and began to scan the room.

"Oh hey now, don't go trying to pass on that title to me, you're the captain here, not me dude"

"Whatever Chad, right now I'm just concerned with finding her," Troy said as he began to walk out of the room.

"Troy, hold up. Has she really been drinking much or was she just buzzed? Because you know that she's been going through a lot lately and all, but she's still Gabs. And lately she's been so much more like the old Gabs than the past few weeks. She's still got a good head on her shoulders, and she knows what's right and wrong," Chad reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just like you said, she's been through so much I'm just constantly worried about her," Troy explained.

"Exactly, so maybe for one night you can just relax and you can both start to enjoy everything. After all that's happened in the past couple of weeks, it's all we can try to do right now is to just keep moving forward. I just keep reminding myself that Taylor would never have wanted me to stay hurting. She would want me to heal. And she would want the same thing for you and Gabs too. So just have fun."

"Okay, you're right," _I think _thought Troy as the two boys walked back into the large crowd where they were set out to "have fun".

Gabriella watched as Troy walked away and went to save Chad from all the wasted girls. She looked around to see everyone around her dancing, drinking, laughing, and all having a fabulous time. She stood up from where she was sitting on the couch and headed back into the kitchen. When she got there she grabbed another red plastic cup and began to pour a little bit of orange juice in it the way she had last time. She filled it up halfway with orange juice before scanning the other bottles trying to remember what Wes had added to it. Before long she spotted a tall bottle with a red label that she recognized and grabbed that. She filled the other half of the cup with the clear liquid before setting the bottle back down on the counter.

She took a long drink of the mixture and whipped her mouth after. It tasted different than before, but she didn't really care. She promised herself that she was going to start living her life, and that she was going to live it to the fullest. For her, and for Taylor. She took another sip and leaned against the counter when she heard a voice.

"You might want to slow down there."

Gabriella turned around and saw that Wes was standing in the doorway to the kitchen leaning up against the doorframe.

"Why? You don't know me… you don't know how much I can handle. You don't know a single thing about me," Gabriella stated.

"I could tell by the way you were looking at the bottles earlier tonight that you were not familiar with any kind of alcohol. You likely don't have any tolerance and your boy isn't anywhere to be seen to make sure you don't drink yourself to a coma," Wes stated plainly.

"No, you don't know what you're saying. I was looking for a special kind, for the drink I normally have…" Gabriella countered back.

"Oh yeah? What kind of drink is that?"

"I… well… it was one that a friend made up so I really don't know if it has a name yet or not."

"Okay, well what's in it? Maybe if it's so spectacular I'd like to try one of these drinks sometime," Wes said raising his eyebrows.

"It's called… um…"

"Hey baby! Where'd you go earlier? I was looking for you cutie," Troy said coming up behind Gabriella and wrapping his arms around her waist while leaning down to take in her sweet scent.

"Oh I just thought I'd have another drink. Come on, I want to go dance," Gabriella replied before she tipped her glass back and downed the rest of the liquid in the glass. She looked up and saw that Wes was smirking at her and Troy. Troy grabbed her hand and began to lead her where everyone else was dancing.

Once they made their way to the middle of the crowd Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's neck and pulled him close. She tilted her head back and let the beat of the music flow through her body as she swayed back and forth with Troy's arms around her waist.

"I'm glad we came here tonight. We needed a night like this," Troy said into her ear.

"I totally agree, and I think we should do this more often. I love dancing with you, feeling your strong arms wrapped around me keeping me all safe," Gabriella said with a lopsided smile.

"Brie, how much did you drink tonight?" Troy wondered but continued dancing and feeling the buzz of a few drinks he had had earlier.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I only had two," Gabriella said as she pulled herself even closer and kissed Troy.

"Mmm, well if you're always going to be like this when you have two drinks then maybe we should go to that party that I heard about earlier today that one of the girls on the cheer squad is having next weekend too," Troy presented.

"I'm so down for that," Gabriella said with a smile.

The two continued to dance for a few more songs. They stayed lost in the music together and let the worries of the past few weeks go. They simply enjoyed being a carefree teenager, even if it was just for one night.

"Maybe we should head out Brie, it's getting pretty late. I don't want your mom to start worrying about you," Troy stated.

"Nah, don't worry about her. Let's just stay and have a little more fun for a while. Come on, when's the last time we did something like this?"

"Well let's see, you rarely stay long at any of the after parties for the games, and you never get drunk, so I'd say never."

"Exactly, so let's just enjoy this for what it is tonight. Please Troy, I need this," Gabriella said, giving him her trademark puppy dog eyes.

"Oh don't even be like that… fine. Fine, you win. We'll stay. But if you get in trouble don't come back blaming me about it," Troy said smiling and leaning down to kiss her again.

Gabriella quickly deepened the kiss and pulled Troy back towards her. The two continued to kiss for a moment before they both broke the kiss at the same time.

"Wow, maybe we should… go sit down or something. Instead of standing here with everyone all around us dancing," Troy said with a smile.

Gabriella nodded and began to pull him towards one of the couches that was now empty presumably because so many of the kids had left already since it was nearing 2am.

Troy sat down and Gabriella quickly turned to him and began to kiss him again. The two stayed tangled up in each other until Troy pulled back.

"You're very outgoing tonight," he stated.

"I just missed kissing you. Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, it's just not like you. I don't know… I guess I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm great. You should stop worrying about me so much and have fun," Gabriella stated happily.

"You sound like Chad," Troy said rolling his eyes.

"Well then maybe you should listen to Chad more often," Gabriella said attempting to poke him in the shoulder, but missing and poking the couch instead.

"Okay, okay. I think we should probably find Chad and get him to take you home now missy."

"Aw, you're no fun. At least you're sexy," Gabriella said winking. Troy laughed at her comment as he stood up and put out his hand to help her up off the couch.

"Yep, definitely time to get you back home."

Troy wrapped an arm around her as he called out for Chad.

"Chad! Let's go!" Troy shouted toward the crowd.

Less than thirty seconds later Chad came walking away from a group of three girls who were all looking disappointed and saying goodbye to Chad's back as he walked across the brown carpets towards Troy and Gabriella.

"What happened to this one?" Chad said motioning to Gabriella who was now leaning right on Troy simply to stay standing.

"Apparently she had too much to drink while we were talking to everyone," Troy explained.

"Alright, well you take your girl, I got the door. Let's get out of here," Chad said as he nodded a couple more goodbyes on the way out the door.

Troy lifted Gabriella up and carried her out also saying a few goodbyes while he followed Chad. They walked out toward the car and Chad opened the door for the other two and let them in. Troy sat Gabriella up straight and buckled her in before her head came down and landed on his shoulder.

Chad took off toward Brie's house first. The two boys talked together about the win and about plans for the rest of the weekend. Chad pulled into the driveway shortly after and helped Troy get Gabriella out of the car. Troy grabbed her keys from her and opened the door as quietly as possible. He picked up Gabriella again and whispered at her to be quiet because they didn't want to wake anyone up. Gabriella nodded her head as she snuggled closer to Troy. He made is way up to her room and quietly walked in without walking up her mom.

"Troy, are we home already?"

"Yeah, we're at your house now sweetie. Come on let's get you some water and then get you into bed."

"Will you stay with me?"

"I can't Brie, I have to get home too, and your mom would not be happy if she woke up and I was here in your bedroom with you," Troy replied.

"She won't care Troy. Please, I don't want to be alone tonight."

"I don't know Gabs… I don't think it's a good idea," Troy said already cracking at the sound of her sad voice coming back. "Let me go talk to Chad then."

Troy walked down the stairs again to go out the door to let Chad know that he was staying. When he walked out to the car he didn't even need to explain to Chad what was going on.

"No worries man, I kind of expected you to stay with her anyways. I'm gonna head out now, but let me know what's going down tomorrow bud. Have a good night. Take care of her," Chad said.

"Yeah of course man. Thanks for the ride back here and everything."

Chad started to back up the car as Troy walked back into the house and made his way back up to Gabriella' room.


	13. Chapter 13

The following morning Gabriella woke up from a throbbing headache coursing through her whole head.

The weekend came and went without much more excitement. Before they knew it Gabriella, Troy and Chad were all back at school on Monday morning, all signs of hangovers gone.

As usual the three met up in the morning just outside the front doors of the school before they had to head in for homeroom. Troy had his arm loosely draped over Gabriella's shoulders, while Chad walked one step ahead of them. The three headed to straight to their lockers without discussion; it was no longer a formality to ask where they would go first, it was just a routine now. They slowed to a stop and pulled out the books they each needed for the first half of the morning, unusually quiet.

"So Chad how was the rest of your weekend?" Troy began.

"Meh, nothing special, just recovered yesterday and tried to get some homework done. Didn't really happen though, I gave up pretty quickly. Stupid trig unit sucks."

"Do you want help or anything… I mean I could stop by after school and explain it. I used to be the same way," Gabriella offered.

"Umm, maybe. I don't know. I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer though Gabs. I'm just gonna jet for a couple minutes before homeroom, but I'll catch you two in there," Chad waved and turned to walk away quickly before the two could get another word in.

"That was weird. It's not like him to just run off like that without us having a clue what's going on," Troy commented.

"Yeah, maybe he's just frustrated with the math stuff though and wants some time to blow it off before we start out a fresh week in this wonderful place we call East High," Gabriella responded slightly sarcastically.

"Probably. Anyways, are you feeling any better than you were yesterday?" Troy asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Other than my ego taking a hit from my embarrassing behaviour. Sorry about that…again.

"Gabi… seriously stop apologizing. And you were funny, not embarrassing. It's okay to let your hair down every once in a while you know. We are in that rebellious teenage stage of our lives where things like this are sort of predicted."

"I know, it's just not really what I would normally do. You know, it was never my thing… I just feel like I have to keep apologizing. And my hair is down today by the way," Gabriella replied with a small smirk.

"You know what I mean," Troy said bumping her shoulder slightly. "But you don't have to keep apologizing. In fact, you shouldn't because there's nothing that you need to feel sorry for. It's not like you hurled all over Chad's truck or went around throwing yourself at all the guys there or anything. You're a cute drunk. Then again you're cute all the time," he finished smiling proudly that he was able to throw in a compliment for her.

"You're sweet," she said leaning up to give him a quick kiss. Grabbing his hand she continued. "Thank you, but we're going to be late for homeroom if we don't go head that way now."

Chad made it to homeroom just before the bell rang through the hallways. He kept his head on his desk the entire time he walked in ignoring the warning glance he knew Ms. Darbus was sending his way. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Ms. Darbus and her morning announcements and rants about the attitudes that students these days had. He turned around in his hard wooden chair to see Troy giving him a questioning look, probably about where he ran off to without really saying anything much that morning. Chad just gave a subtle shake of his head to let Troy know that nothing was wrong and it wasn't a big deal. After being friends with each other for so many years, Troy knew exactly what Chad was saying with just a simple gesture.

The two had been through a lot together. They met in kindergarten and instantly became friends. They had remained close until middle school when they started to go their separate ways but had constantly remained friends. The two became part of two different groups in the school which evidently made it harder for them to stay as close as they had always been. However, during those two years they weren't constantly with one another they both knew that if needed they would have the others back in a flash. That's just how their friendship was. When they got to East High in grade nine it was like the two had always remained in the same group of friends. They both stopped hanging out with the groups they had stuck close to in middle school and had found a new group that they both fit in perfectly with. They had stuck close since and although neither one would actually admit it; they had become even closer since Taylor's death.

Chad, Troy and Gabriella all zoned out and were lost to their own worlds for the remainder of homeroom – each one not caring about the same old morning announcements they would likely continue to hear about for a few more days. The bell rang resulting in the three subtly jumping from the familiar noise jolting them back to reality. They each grabbed their bags hurriedly and left homeroom.

Troy and Gabriella linked hands once outside the classroom and said goodbye to Chad as they headed down the crowded hallways to their first class of the day. Chad turned and made his way toward his class. He kept his head down low staring that the green speckled tile floors.

As he made his way down the hallway Chad expertly turned the corners and went up the staircases absent-mindedly, knowing the school so well. He bumped into someone with pink converse shoes as he finished the last set of stairs he needed to climb. He looked up to see a short, frightened girl whom he figured to be one of the "niners".

"Sorry, not paying attention," he said letting her know that he wasn't about to take anything from her or any of the other things she clearly had in mind that he would do to her.

"It's okay, I guess I wasn't really either," she replied quietly with a shy smile before making her way down the set of stairs.

Chad found his way to his first class and sat down in his usual spot, close to the back but not in the very last row as Taylor used to scold him for always going as far away from the teacher as he could. He got into the habit it sitting a few rows from the back which still occasionally would earn a glare or a roll of the eyes from Taylor, but it was a compromise. Even after Taylor was gone Chad stayed in the same seat in every class, knowing that it was one more thing that Taylor had changed about him.

It wasn't the only thing that had changed about him though. In fact, as Chad sat in his seat, having already taken out his notebook and novel for English class, he thought that she changed so much about him. She changed his entire world, essentially. It was Taylor that taught Chad that basketball was really not the only thing that mattered in the world, and that people definitely should and almost always could not be judged based on their appearance. He learned how to understand calculus last semester and how to write a pretty kick-ass essay. She taught him how to live. But most of all, Taylor taught Chad how to love. He learned how to love someone else so much that all you wanted to do was make that person happy, even if it meant doing things that you didn't want to. It meant that he would always treat her right, and always try to do the right thing without expecting anything at all in return. It was those big life lessons that Chad would remember Taylor teaching him the most – though he would never forget the little things either. He would have done so much for that girl, just to see that casual smile grace her features. He would have given his life to save her….

No.

No, he couldn't think that way. He promised himself – and Gabriella and Troy really – right after it had all happened that he would not blame himself for whatever happened. He knew that it was hard not to play the "what if…" game and that Gabriella had before, but what good would that do? It wasn't going to bring Taylor back. It wasn't going to make him forget any part of that moment when Troy and Gabriella came to his house and broke the news to him. It wouldn't do any good at all letting himself wonder what went wrong and what he could have done to stop everything from spinning so out of control.

But sometimes it just hurt so badly. Sometimes it got so hard to fight off the tears, and to put on a brave face in front of everybody making them think "hey, if Chad can get through this then so can I". He did it every single day in front of Troy and Gabriella. He knew how much this had affected Gabriella. Taylor was her best friend, how could it not? It is never easy going through a tragedy like this, but when it's someone that is so incredibly close, it seems like mission impossible. But the three friends had remained close throughout it all, knowing that they would have each other to lean on. But Chad still felt that Gabriella was so fragile that he wanted to continue to be strong for her. He felt that once he started to show how much this was truly eating him up inside, it would all come spilling out, and Gabriella didn't need to handle picking up the pieces right now, and neither did Troy. They both already had enough to deal with, and Chad had promised to be there for them and to help them get through it no matter what. He wouldn't break down that wall.

Chad was so lost in thought that he had no idea what was going on in class. He was brought back to reality for a moment when the phone in the classroom rang, and he quickly scribbled down a few of the notes that were on the board, but knew that he wasn't going to retain any information from this class. He would have to figure it out on his own, which wouldn't be difficult, especially in English class.

He let his mind wander again for the rest of the class, occasionally writing down what was on the board so that he would have some kind of an idea about what he was expected to know. Before he knew it the bell was ringing signaling the end of first period. He packed up his bag quietly before once again heading out on his own into the crowded hallways of East High. This time he had a few people nod their heads at him, or call out some form of greeting to him in which he mostly just sent a nod in return.

As soon as he sat down in his Trigonometry class – once again in a desk near the back, but two rows up – he knew that it was going to be pointless to pay attention. He pulled his textbook and binder out of his backpack anyways, at least making it look like he was paying attention. He didn't understand any of this stuff anymore. Normally when something like this happened, he would turn to Taylor (if she hadn't already initiated some sort of study session) and she would help him get through it and eventually understand it (almost) as well as she did. Now he was left in the dark and didn't know what to do about it. He kept getting more and more behind pushing Trig homework to the end of the pile of homework. He knew it would have to be dealt with at some point – or else fail the course which really wasn't a good option for him – but he simply didn't know what to do, until Gabriella offered to help him. He knew that he would take her up on the offer, but he wanted to make some sort of feeble attempt at making it look like he would get the hang of it on his own.

Once again Chad was shot back to reality, only this time it was to the sound of his name being called out. "Mr. Danforth, care to share the answer with the class?" Mr. Boyan asked.

"Ugh, I'm sorry Sir, I wasn't really paying attention," Chad answered with his head slanted down in embarrassment.

"I see, well perhaps you'll want to think about paying attention to the math in your text rather than daydreaming about whatever girl of the week you adolescents are infatuated with these days," replied the teacher. He was an older teacher, probably one of the oldest teaching at the school, and clearly didn't hold much interest in the school or its members other than to educate them.

As Mr. Boyan made his remark, Chad's eyes narrowed slightly (however not enough to notice from the front of the room) before he gave a curt nod and looked down at the textbook once again. The comment made Chad sick to his stomach. He didn't deserve something like that being said to him. After everything that happened, Chad had not so much as looked at another girl in the sense of adoration or longing or anything along those lines. Taylor still held his heart, even from the grave. The last thing he wanted to hear was some old man who knew nothing about teenagers these days telling him to stop day dreaming about his "girl of the week".

Who was he to accuse Chad of such a thing anyways? He clearly didn't know him or anything about him. A comment like that shouldn't have been a big deal, but it was. It was a big deal for Chad and it was wrong. Not only because of how untrue it was but also because of everything Chad had gone through in the past weeks. It was unbelievable that any person could get away with saying something like that to someone who had just lost someone so close to them. Chad closed his eyes and tried to let it roll off his shoulders knowing that getting angry about the situation wouldn't do any good either. But Chad was angry. He was infuriated. As much as he tried to calm himself down, it only did so much good after hearing a comment like that.

The bell went shortly after and Chad hurriedly picked up his books and things, quickly stuffing them into his bag before heading out of the classroom and down the stairs to the cafeteria. He knew that Troy and Gabriella would probably already be there by the time he got there because they both had classes that were closer to the cafeteria that he did. Not only knowing that he was getting out of that classroom but also that he was going to have lunch with his two best friends calmed him down a little bit more.

He truly didn't know what he would do without those two in his life – especially now. Despite the fact that he had pushed back much of the sadness and grief that came with Taylors death, Troy and Gabriella really did help him get through the day.

He rushed through the hallways and down stairs to get to the cafeteria quickly. He walked into the large echoing room just as he saw Troy and Gabriella sitting down at their usual table. It had been a while since there was a big group of them sitting all together the way they used to. Before Taylor had died there were many more friends that would sit at their table but once Taylor had died the three had been entirely inseparable. The rest of their friends had understood when they wanted to sit just the three of them for the first couple of days back at school because everyone knew that Gabriella, Chad and Troy were all very close to Taylor. No one else could possibly know how much this had affected them and they wouldn't know how to help them either. But it got to the point where their friends didn't know when would be a good time to start sitting with them or hanging with them again. Neither did the inseparable three, for they were all very much aware that once they all hung out again there would be this huge gap where Taylor's presence would be missing. He looked over a couple table to see the group that used to be part of his table. They were all still good friends and nothing had changed with the way they acted around each other or felt towards each other, they simply had grown apart over the past few weeks.

Just as Chad was approaching the table with his two best friends, another boy approached the two sitting at the table. Chad scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, since he didn't know the student. He took a closer look and knew that he recognized him from the after party this past weekend but still didn't know his name or anything about him. But his spiked blonde hair looked ridiculous. He was completely decked out in black as well. Black jeans, black t-shirt which had some kind of writing on it, possibly for a band or something, Chad couldn't tell from his angle and a black knapsack to top it off. Why was this kid walking to the same table as him? Just as he asked himself the question he quickly got his answer.

"Hey Gabriella, Tom was it?" The boy asked his friends, completely ignoring the fact that Chad had just arrived at the same table at the same moment.

"Um, Troy actually"

"Hi Wes," Gabriella replied a little more quiet than usual, before glancing up to Chad to let him know that she knew he was here now.

"Um, well since I'm new here – as you obviously found out this past weekend, would it be cool if I sat with you guys? I don't really know anyone"

"Oh man, you know I'm sure that we could fit you in here _Wes, _but you should know that the three of us were just going to be working on some homework, and this project that we have to do together. But you're welcome to sit here and watch us," Chad replied for the two of them, which told the other two that he clearly didn't want anyone else sitting with them today. It was a sketchy plan that Chad hadn't really thought about as he was saying it, he just started talking. He knew that if this guy really didn't know anyone that he would probably be desperate to sit with anyone, whether they were working on some "project" or not.

"You guys are working on school work during your lunch?" Wes asked skeptically.

Chad sighed knowing this was a terrible idea to try to convince someone that they were doing a project together when they weren't. And when he did decided to "sit and watch" they would have to make something else up and either start actually working on something or pretend that they could just do it after school or something.

"Well yeah, we've been really behind on it, and we've all done some slacking with this project so at this point we don't have much choice but to work on it whenever we can," Troy interjected backing up Chad. To add even more to the argument Gabriella looked at the two boys and nodded.

"Okay, well, I don't want to interrupt your project then, maybe some other time. Oh, I didn't catch your name," Wes replied seemingly interested in knowing Chad's name all of a sudden.

"It's Chad. I'm sure we'll see you around so you'll have many more opportunities for lunch with us, sorry if it's any inconvenience for you today," Chad replied somewhat sarcastically.

"No worries, good luck on the project guys. See you later," Wes said before turning around and walking to the other end of the cafeteria and getting lost in the mix of students who were still filing into the room for the lunch hour.

"Who the hell is that?" Chad immediately asked as he tossed his backpack to the floor and sat down at the table.

"That's Wes. Met him at the party on the weekend," Troy stated.

"Well he seems sketchy"

"What makes you say that? Because he's new?" Gabriella questioned.

"No… I don't really know what it was. The way he seemed to know exactly where you guys were sitting when he's new here, the way he was staring at you, I don't know. He just seemed like a creeper"

"Well I can attest to the staring part at least. But it's hard not to with someone who's as gorgeous as Brie is," Troy said cheekily.

"Ugh, gag me now please," Chad rolled his eyes at the two.

"I don't know. I didn't really get that feeling from him. I think he's just looking for some place to belong," Gabriella reasoned.

"Maybe. Whatever, either way he's gone now."

"Yeah, what's up man? Did you just scare him off cause you thought he was a prick or what?" Troy asked of his best friend.

"I just don't feel like dealing with other people right now. Mr. B made some stupid ass remark about me in the middle of Trig and it got me pissed this morning."

"What did he say?" Gabriella wondered aloud.

"Well I wasn't paying attention – as usual in Trig – and he asked me some question so I said that I hadn't been focusing and he said something about stop daydreaming about my girl of the week or some other bullshit," Chad replied shaking his head thinking about the comment once again.

"He said WHAT?" Gabriella demanded, immediately fired up. "How dare he say something like that. I don't care if he's 95 years old and doesn't know a thing about teenagers or what we've been going through – despite the fact that they made a public announcement about it once we got back from the break – there is no way that he should be allowed to say things like that to you! I'm going to freaking deal with this right now!" Gabriella stood up before the two boys had the chance to say anything.

"Gabs, seriously don't. Just leave it. Nothing good will come of it; he's one of the most favoured teachers here by the rest of the staff because he's been here for so long," Chad responded.

"NO! He can't just keep on doing that. He needs to know that comments like that are like sticking his hand right into your chest and ripping your heart out all over again."

"Babe, sit down. Seriously, I think that it's best that if Chad doesn't want us to do anything or saying anything then we just have to let it go," Troy gently suggested while grabbing Gabriella's waist, making her sit at the table once again.

"Yeah, it's really not that big of a deal. I mean yeah, it sucks hearing things like that but whatever, they'll pass and it's not going to mean anything in the long run. Plus I hear he's retiring this year, so we only have to deal with him for a few more months," Chad stated.

Gabriella took a moment to breathe deeply before leaning her head against Troy's shoulder. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry that I got so worked up. I just hate it when people do something like that. It's not right."

"No it's not. But really, there isn't much that we can do about it now. It's done so we just have to move on," Troy said before planting a kiss on Gabriella's forehead.

The two boys exchanged glances before they all moved on from the subject. Despite the fact that Gabriella had seemed like she was looking better, and becoming more and more strong after losing her best friend, there was clearly still a lot of pain built up inside of her. Chad knew what that felt like. He wished that he could somehow let her know that it was okay for her to let all that pain out, but how could he tell her that, when he was doing the same thing to himself? This outburst just confirmed to Chad that he needed to stay strong now. He couldn't break down now, not when Gabriella still needed him and his strength so much. He would stay strong. For Gabriella, and for Taylor.


End file.
